THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 

Biology 

BEQUEST  OF 

Theodore  S.  Palmer 


.        ^,        OX  OU\AASVL*, 


Photo  by  the  Duchess  of  Bedford,   Woburn  Abbey. 


FEMALE   KUDU. 


The  Kudu  is  one  of  the  handsomest  of  the  African  Antelopes,  the  corkscrew-like  horns  of  the  bucks 
forming  some  of  the  most  striking  of  all  sporting  trophies. 


-he  Worl 

'  Mankin 


• 


,THE   PEOPLE'S 


Natural  History 


EMBRACING 


Living  Animals  of  the  World 
and  Living  Races  of  Mankind 


EDITORS  AND  SPECIAL  CONTRIBUTORS: 

Charles  J.  Cornish,  F.  C.  Selous,  Ernest  Ingersoll,  Sir  Harry  Johnston,  K.C.B., 

Sir    Herbert    Maxwell,   F.R.S.,    H.   N.    Hutchinson,  F.R.G.S., 

J.   W.   Gregory,  F.G.S.,   R.  Lydekker,  F.R.S., 

F.Z.S.,  and   many   other  eminent 

naturalists 


Nearly    Two    Thousand   Illustrations 


Vol.  I 

MAMMALS 


THE  UNIVERSITY  SOCIETY 

NEW    YORK 


COPYRIGHT,  1901-1902 
By  DODD,  MEAD  AND  COMPANY 

COPYRIGHT,  1903 
By  THE  UNIVERSITY  SOCIETY 


GIFT 


v,  I 


£  / 


LIVING  ANIMALS 

OF  THE  WORLD 


VOLUME  I 


521 


PEKIN   DEER   IN   SUMMER   DRESS 

example  of  the  -white  spotted  type  of  coloration  to  common  among  hcrbi-vorout  mammalt 


;<  .  .' 


INTRODUCTION 


THE    interest    now    taken 
in    Natural     History   is 
wide-spread    and    intel- 
ligent to   a   degree  never   known 
before,   and    any  publication    that 
purports    to    present    the    animal 
world    in    a    new    and    clearer 
way  is  sure  of  a  welcome,  and 
as    wide    an    acceptance    as     it 
deserves. 

Nothing  is  more  essential 
to  the  successful  presentation 
of  animal  life  and  habits  than 
good  pictures.  The  universal 
interest  of  the  public  in  zoologi- 
cal gardens,  traveling  menageries 
and  museums,  the  educational 
value  of  which  is  more  and  more 
strongly  recognised,  arises  not 
only  from  a  natural  curiosity,  but 
also  from  the  need  of  seeing  the 
real  creatures  or  their  preserved 
embodiments,  in  order  properly 
to  understand  and  realise  the 
descriptions  of  animals  and 


Bj  pirmittim  «/  HITT  Ctrl  Haftnkttli]  [ 

NEGRO   BOY   AND   APES 

An  intereittng  picture  of  a  Negro  toy,  -with  a  young  Chimpanzee  (lef  side  of  figure) 
and  young  Orang-utan  {right  tide  of  figure) 

i 


11 


THE    LIVING    ANIMALS    OF    THE    WORLD 


their  ways  with  which  books  of  exploration  and  travel,  school  treatises  and  current 
terature  are  nowadays  crowded.  Without  such  help,  indeed,  the  study  of  zoology 
would  be  practically  impossible,  and  therefore  pictures  have  always  been  considered 
necessary  to  books  of  natural  history.  Too  often,  however,  they  have  been  sorry  treatises 
upon  the  reality,  reflecting  the  imaginations  of  the  draughtsman  rather  than  the  truth  of 

nature. 

Photography  was  therefore  welcomed   by  naturalists  and    scientific   writers   as  a  means 

of  vastly   needed   improvement,  yet  only  recently  has  it   been  possible  to   utilise  it  in  any 

important  picturesque  way 
in  the  illustration  of  living 
animals.  For  a  long  time 
the  difficulties  to  be  over- 
come baffled  both  photog- 
raphers and  naturalists.  The 
makers  of  photographic  in- 
struments and  materials  were 
compelled  to  experiment  for 
many  years  before  they  were 
able  to  perfect  "  quick  " 
plates  and  lenses  that  would 
answer  the  purpose,  and  then 
it  was  only  here  and  there 
that  a  man  was  able  or  will- 
ing, or  had  the  opportunity 
to  make  use  of  the  portable 
cameras,  telephoto  lenses,  and 
other  special  apparatus  re- 
quired to  obtain  successful 
portraits  of  living  creatures, 
especially  those  at  liberty 
"  on  their  native  heath." 

It  must  be  remembered, 
too,  that  the  processes  of 
mechanical  engraving  had  to 
be  perfected  in  order  to  re- 
produce such  photographs  so 
that  they  might  be  printed 
without  the  intervention  of 
brush  or  graving-tool,  with 


Bjfermistlm  of  tierr  Vmlauff\ 


{Hamburg 


SKELETONS    OF    MAN    AND    GORILLA 


their     chances     of     loss     cf 


This  photograph  shows  the  remarkable  similarity  in  the  structure  of  the  human  frame  (left}  Correctness 

<d  that  of  the  gorilla  (right}.      Thh  gorilla  happened  to  be  a  particularly  large  specimen  j 


the  man  was  ef  ordinary  height 


What  would  we  not  give 


Photo  by  G.  Watmiugh  Webster  &•  Son} 


[Chester 


SEA-SWALLOWS 

From  their  long  wingi,  forked  tail,  and  flight,  the  Term  are  popularly  called  Sea-tiuallytos 


111 


IV 


THE    LIVING    ANIMALS    OF    THE    WORLD 


Phelt  by  Ottomar  jfnichiitx] 


[Btrlin 


AFRICAN   LEOPARD 


had  the  pioneers  of  America  or  Africa 
been  able  to  take  with  them  cameras,  and, 
instead  of  taking  advantage  of  the  tame- 
ness  of  the  game  unused  to  the  hunter, 
which  enabled  them  to  kill  it,  sometimes, 
with  clubs,  had  gathered  for  us  easily  the 
portraits  of  many  an  animal,  perhaps  in 
flocks  and  herds,  which  have  now  disap- 
peared !  It  is  one  of  the  most  important 
functions  of  out-door  photography,  to-day, 
to  preserve  for  posterity  a  record  of  pass- 
ing conditions  and  of  diminishing  species; 
and  a  work  like  the  present  is  of  per- 
manent interest,  and  will  increase  in 
historical  and  bibliographical  value  as  time 
goes  on. 

One  by  one  in  various  parts  of  the 
world  within  the  last  half  a  dozen  years, 
ingenious,  energetic,  and  capable  men  and 


A n  example  of  the  black-spotted  type  of  coloration  so  prevalent  in 
Carnivora 


women  have  overcome  the  obstacles, 
and  partly  by  great  patience  and  skill, 
and  partly  by  seizing  happy  chances,  have 
captured  and  preserved  for  us  the  por- 
traits of  a  host  of  animals  of  every  sort. 
It  is  these  which  have  now  been  gathered 
to  illustrate,  in  a  comprehensive  and  orig- 
inal manner  this  new  general  history  of 
the  Living  Animals  of  the  World,  —  mam- 
mals, birds,  reptiles,  fishes,  and  lowly  life 
of  land  and  sea. 

It  is  no  disparagement  of  its  often 
excellent  predecessors  to  say  that  in  its 
illustrations,  at  least,  this  work  surpasses 
anything  that  has  gone  before  it,  since  no 
previous  publication  could  have  presented 
its  pictorial  contents.  The  materials,  in 
respect  to  both  pictures  and  written  text, 
have  been  gathered  from  the  whole  world, 


EAST   AFRICAN   GIRAFFE 

This  photograph  -was  taken  in  the  -wilds  of  Africa  by  Lord  Delamerc, 

and  shows  the  animal  at  home.      The  tree  is  a 

mimosa,  on  the  top  shoots  of  -which  the 

giraffe  habitually  feeds 


INTRODUCTION 


Photo  by  W.  Savilli-Ktnt,  F.Z.S.] 


FLYING-FOX 


[Crtydtn 


This  bat,  -which  it  a  native  of  Australia  (where  it  was  photographed} ,  is  commonly  called  the  Flying-fox.      Great  flocks  set  out  at  sunset 
from  the  forest  to  feed  upon  the  indigenous  fruits,  such  as  that  of  the  native  Jig 

and  represent  the  latest  studies,  much  of  which  has  never  been  before  popularly  published. 

Specialists    of  distinction   and    renowned    scientific    travelers    have   contributed    photographs 

and  field-notes,  often  from  remote  regions 

where    alone    many  of  the    most  rare   and 

interesting  animals   may  be   found.     These 

unique  contributions  come    from  the    most 

distant     islarfds    of    the    Southern    Ocean, 

the   deserts    and    coral    reefs    of  Australia, 

the     New     Zealand     hills,     the     Indian 

jungle,    the    African    forest  and    veldt,    and 

the  wilds    of  tropical    and    polar   America. 

Such    a    collection    as    is    here    made    of 

photographs  and  accounts  of  the  domestic 

animals    of    the    world    would    alone    be    a 

valuable    and    entertaining    contribution    to 

Ifterature. 

Another    highly    interesting   feature   is 
the  large  number  of  pictures  given  of  the 


fhttt  bj  F.  G. 


animals    of  various    sorts    trained    by   Carl 
Hagenbeck  and  others,  shown  in  "  happy 


o,  F.Z.S. 

DOLPHINS 

TAis  photograph  -was  taken  in  mid-ocean,  and  shows  a  QQUfle  of 
dolphins  folio-wing  a  ship  across  the  Atlantic 


VI 


THE    LIVING    ANIMALS    OF    THE    WORLD 


Fhm,  tj  Frattlli  Alln 


A    HAPPY    FAMILY 


Hyerna,  tiger,  and  lions  living  in  amity  —  a  remarkable  proof  of  their  tamer's  poiver.  In 
the  same  park  at  Hamburg,  belonging  to  Herr  Hagenbeck,  are  also  bears,  dogs,  leopards,  and 
pumas,  all  loose  together 


family"  groups,  or  in  the 
performances  of  various 
feats;  for  this  is  material 
toward  a  better  knowl- 
edge of  the  mental  char- 
acteristics and  powers  of 
the  brutes,  which  is  a  sub- 
ject attractive  to  every 
thoughtful  person,  and  upon 
which  all  the  light  is  needed 
that  can  be  gained. 

The  editor  has  had  em- 
inent assistance.  Mr.  F.  C. 
Selous  deals  with  the  African 
Lion  and  the  Elephants,  with 
which  he  has  had  thrilling 
experiences;  and  other 


sportsmen    treat    of    other    game    animals    of   the    Dark    Continent.      To    Mr.    W.    Saville- 

Kent,  author  of  "  The  Great  Barrier  Reef, "  has  been  assigned  the  Marsupials  of  Australia, 

and     also     the      Reptiles      generally.       Sir 

Herbert  W.  Maxwell  writes  on  the  Salmon 

family,    and    so    on ;     while     Dr.    Richard 

Lydekker,     Dr.    Bowdler    Sharpe,    Mr.    F. 

W.     Kirby,     and      other      specialists      are 

editorial      advisers     in     regard      to      the 

branches     in      which      they     stand      as 

authorities. 

Wherever  ii  has  not  been  possible  to 
get  really  good  pictures  of  some  shy  wild 
creature  in  its  native  haunt,  living  examples 
have  been  sought  in  the  great  Zoological 
Gardens  of  the  world  — London,  Berlin, 
Antwerp,  Florence,  New  York,  Calcutta, 
Sydney,  etc.,  — or  in  the  parks  of  American 
men  of  wealth  and  European  noblemen. 
These  have  been  "posed"  as  nearly  as 
possible  in  the  surroundings  natural  to 
them,  and  faithful  portraits  have  been  ob- 
tained. Now  and  then  it  was  desirable,  in 
order  to  complete  a  family  history,  to 
include  portraits  of  varieties  which  are  not 


ELEPHANTS 


even    known    in    captivity,    and    here    the 


TAis  is  another  of  Lord  Delamere' s  East  African  photography  and. 
shows  a  couple  of  -wild  elephants  in  the  open 


INTRODUCTION 


Vll 


museums  have  been  drawn  upon  and 
photographs  of  stuffed  specimens  and 
groups,  naturally  mounted,  have  been 
obtained ;  but  these  cases  are  not  many, 
and  though  less  interesting  serve  their 
purpose  almost  as  well  as  the  "  living 
pictures "  that  predominate  from  end  to 
end  of  this  portrait-gallery  of  the  animal 
life  of  the  globe. 

Such  a  book  as  this,  covering  in  an 
entertaining  style  the  whole  range  of 
zoology,  carefully  prepared  by  men  of 
exact  knowledge,  yet  avoiding  technicali- 
ties, and  wholly  illustrated  by  precise 
reproductions  cf  photographs,  many  of 
the  full  size  of  the  quarto  page  and  colored 
to  life,  is  not  only  novel  and  beautiful, 
but  of  high  value  as  an  educator;  and  it 
would  seem  to  be  as  indispensable  a  part  This  f>Aotosraf>A  °f  Mr-  Waiter  Rothschild  riding  on  one  of  hh  huge 

tortoises  gives  a  good  idea  of  the  relative  sizes  of  one  of  the  "giant  tortoises" 

of  the  library  of  every  family  and  school-     and  a  human  being 


Byfe 


ofthi  Hon.  Walttr  Rothschild] 

GIANT    TORTOISE 


(Tring 


Phita  by  Fratelli  Alinari] 


[Fltrtnci 


A   GROUP    OF   CROCODILIANS 


A  vi 


mder  of  modern  animal-training.      Tht  photograph  shows  a  number  of  living  crocodilian!  -with  their  trainer.      They  have  ban  an 
exhibition  in  Florence  for  some  years  past,  and  are  still  to  be  seen  there 


Vlll 


THE    LIVING    ANIMALS    OF   THE    WORLD 


room  as  is  a  dictionary  or  year- 
book, since  by  its  aid  all  reading 
may  be  illuminated,  and  perchance 
corrected,  and  the  whole  view  of 
nature  enlightened  and  enlarged. 

ERNEST  INGERSOLL. 


SOMALI   ZEBRAS 

This  is  a  photograph  of  a  group  of  zebras  taken  in  Africa,  and  gives  some  idea  of 
the  surrounding  country,  -where  they  li-vc  in  happy  freedom 


The  special  thanks  of  the  Editor  and 
Publishers  are  due  to  a  great  many 
naturalists  and  zoologists  for  the  -valuable 
help  they  have  given  to,  and  the  interest 
they  have  taken  in,  this  work  while  it  has 
been  in  preparation.  No  doubt,  before  the 
complete  work  is  published,  a  great  many 
more  names  will  be  added  to  the  list,  but 
meanwhile  grateful  acknowledgment  should 
be  made  to  the  following :  —  Her  Grace  the 
Duchess  of  Bedford,  who  has  kindly  allowed 
many  of  her  fine  photographs  to  be  repro- 
duced in  these  pages ;  the  Hon.  Walter 
Rothschild,  M.  P.,  for  the  splendid  collec- 
tion of  photographs  taken  especially  for  him 
in  all  parts  of  the  world;  Lord  Delamere, 
for  several  unique  photographs  taken  with 
a  telephoto  lens  during  his  celebrated  ex- 
pedition to  Africa;  Major  Nott,  F.  Z.  S., 
for  the  use  of  his  scientific  series  of  animal 

photographs;  Dr.  R.  W.  Shufeldt,  of  Washington,  for  many  photographs  of  fish  and  other  animals  in  their 

natural  surroundings;    Mr.    W.  Saville-Kent,  F.  Z.  S.,   F.  L.  S.,  for  the  photographs  taken  by  him  while 

in  Australia;  Mr.  Lewis  Medland,  F.  Z.  S.,  for  the  use  of  his  singularly  complete  set  of  animal  photographs; 

Herr  Carl  Hagenbeck,  of  Hamburg,  for  permission 

to  use  his  photographs  of  some  extremely  rare  speci- 
mens of  animals  which  from  time  to  time  have  found 

a    temporary   home    at    his    wonderful    Thierpark ; 

the  Trustees  of  the  British  Museum,  for  permission 

to  photograph   some    of  their    animals;    Professor 

E.  Ray  Lankester,  Director  of  the  Natural  History 

Branch  of  the  British  Museum;  and  the  Zoological 

Society,  for  permission    to  photograph    some   of  the 

animals.     And   also    to    Herr    Ottomar  Anschiits, 

of  Berlin;  Messrs.  Bond  fir-  Grover,  of  the  Scho- 
lastic Photographic  Co.;  Signor  Alinari,  of  Florence  ; 

Messrs.   Kerry   fir*    Co.    and  Mr.    Henry    King,    of 

Sydney;      Mr.     Charles     Knight;     Mr.      J.      W. 

McLellan;    Messrs.    Charles    and    William    Reid; 

Messrs.    A.    S.    Rudland   &•    Sons;    and   Messrs. 

York  fr  Sons,  for  permission  to   reproduce    their 

photographs. 


Phttt  b}  Dr.  R.  W.  Schufildt'] 

SUN-FISH 


[Washington 


This  photograph  -was  taken  through  the  -water  by  Dr.  R.  W. 
•who  has  made  a  speciality  of  this  kind  of  photography 


Photo  by  G.  W.  Wlson  &  Co.,  Ltd.] 
singer 


A    YOUNG    CHIMPANZEE 

Pleasure 


[  Abtrditn 


Fear 


The  Living  Animals  of  The  IVorld 


BOOK  I.     MAMMALS 


CHAPTER     I 

APES,   MONKEYS,   AND   LEMURS 


THE   MAN-LIKE   APES 


O 


fhttt  by  FrattlH  dlinari,  Flortnct 

ARABIAN    BABOON 


THE  CHIMPANZEE 

F  all  the  great  apes   the   CHIMPANZEE  most  closely  ap- 
proaches    man    in    bodily    structure    and    appearance, 
although  in  height  it  is  less  near  the  human   standard 
than  the  gorilla,  5  feet  being  probably  that  of  an  adult  male. 

Several  races  of  this  ape  are  known,  among  them  the  TRUE 
CHIMPANZEE  and  the  BALD  CHIMPANZEE.  The  varieties  also  include 
the  Kulo-kamba,  described  by  Du  Chaillu,  and  the  Soko,  discovered 
by  Livingstone,  who  confounded  it  with  the  gorilla.  But  the  varia- 
tions in  neither  of  these  are  sufficiently  important  to  justify  their 
being  ranked  as  species. 

The  first  authentic  mention  of  the  chimpanzee  is  found  in 
"  The  Strange  Adventures  of  Andrew  Battell,"  an  English  sailor 
taken  prisoner  by  the  Portuguese  in  1590,  who  lived  eighteen 
years  near  Angola.  He  speaks  of  two  apes,  the  Pongo  and 
the  Enjocko,  of  which  the  former  is  the  gorilla,  the  latter  the 
chimpanzee.  The  animal  was  first  seen  in  Europe  in  1641,  and 
described  scientifically  fifty-eight  years  later,  but  we  are  indebted 
1 


THE    LIVING    ANIMALS     OF    THE    WORLD 


to  Dr.  Savage,  a  missionary,  for 
our  first  account  of  its  habits, 
in  1847. 

The  chimpanzee,  like  the 
gorilla,  is  found  only  in  Africa. 
The  range  includes  West  and 
Central  Equatorial  Africa,  from 
the  Gambia  in  the  north  to  near 
Angola  in  the  south,  while  it  oc- 
curs in  the  Niam-Niam  country 
to  the  northwest  of  the  great 
lakes,  and  has  been  discovered 
recently  in  Uganda.  The  new 
Uganda  Railway,  which  will  open 
out  the  great  lakes  to  the  east, 
will  bring  many  travelers  well 
within  reach  of  the  nearest  haunt 
of  these  great  apes.  It  is  on  the 
likeness  and  difference  of  their 
form  and  shape  to  those  of  man 
that  the  attention  of  the  world 
has  been  mainly  fixed. 

The  chimpanzee  is  a  heavily 
built  animal,  with  chest  and  arms 
of  great  power.  The  male  is 
slightly  taller  than  the  female. 
The  crown  is  depressed,  the  chin 
receding,  the  ridges  which  over- 
hang the  eye-sockets  more  prom- 
inent than  in  man,  less  so  than  in 
the  gorilla.  The  nose  has  a  short 
bridge,  and  a  flat  extremity.  The 
ear  is  large,  and  less  human  than  that  of  the  gorilla.  The  hands  and  feet  are  comparatively 
long ;  the  digits  are,  except  the  thumb  and  great  toe,  joined  by  a  web.  The  arms  are  short  for 
an  ape,  reaching  only  to  the  knees.  The  teeth  are  similar  to  those  of  man,  and  the  canines  of 
only  moderate  size.  The  chimpanzee  has  thirteen  pairs  of  ribs,  and,  like  man,  has  a  suggestion 
at  the  end  of  the  vertebrae  of  a  rudimentary  tail.  It  walks  on  all-fours,  with  the  backs  of  its 
closed  fingers  on  the  ground,  and  can  only  stand  upright  by  clasping  its  hands  above  its  head. 
The  skin  is  of  a  reddish  or  brown  flesh-colour,  the  hair  black  with  white  patches  on  the  lower 
part  of  the  face.  The  bald  chimpanzee  has  the  top,  front,  and  sides  of  the  face  bare,  exceedingly 
large  ears,  thick  lips,  and  black  or  brown  hands  and  feet. 

The  chimpanzee's  natural  home  is  the  thick  forest,  where  tropical  vegetation  ensures  almost 
total  gloom.  But  near  Loango  it  frequents  the  mountains  near  the  coast.  It  is  a  fruit-feeding 
animal,  said  to  do  much  damage  to  plantations,  but  the  bald  race,  at  all  events  in  captivity,  takes 
readily  to  flesh,  and  the  famous  "  Sally  "  which  lived  in  the  Zoo  for  over  six  years  used  to  kill  and 
eat  pigeons,  and  caught  and  killed  rats.  The  male  chimpanzee  builds  a  nest  in  a  tree  for  his 
family,  and  sleeps  under  its  shelter ;  when  food  becomes  scarce  in  the  vicinity,  a  move  is  made, 
and  a  new  nest  built.  This  ape  lives  either  in  separate  families  or  communities  not  exceeding 
ten  in  number,  and  is  monogamous. 

As  to  the  animal's   courage,  it  is  difficult  to  get  accurate  information,  as  the  sins  of  the 


Pkuc  by  Schtiaitic  P/itto.  Co.]  [fanon'i  Green 

"JENNY,"    THE   WELL-KNOWN    CHIMPANZEE 

A    VERY     CHARACTERISTIC     POSE 

In  this  picture  the  rounded  ear,  human-like  -wrinkles  on  the  forehead,  and  length  of  the 
toes  should  be  noted 


APES,    MONKEYS,    AND    LEMURS 


3 


gorilla  and  baboon  have  often  been  laid  on  its  shoulders,  and  information  derived  from  natives  is 
usually  untrustworthy.  Apparently  the  chimpanzee  avoids  coming  into  collision  with  man, 
although,  when  attacked,  it  is  a  formidable  antagonist.  Tales  of  chimpanzees  kidnapping  women 
and  children  need  stronger  evidence  than  they  have  yet  obtained.  The  natives  kill  this  ape  by 
spearing  it  in  the  back,  or  by  driving  it  into  nets,  where  it  is  entangled  and  easily  dispatched. 
According  to  Livingstone,  the  Soko,  as  the  chimpanzee  is  called  in  East  Central  Africa,  kills  the 
leopard  by  biting  its  paws,  but  falls  an  easy  prey  to  the  lion. 

In  captivity  it  is  docile  and  intelligent,  but  usually  fails  to  stand  a  northern  climate  for  more 
than  a  few  months.  It  is  easily  taught  to  wear  clothes,  to  eat  and  drink  in  civilised  fashion,  to 
understand  what  is  said  to  it,  and  reply  with  a  limited  vocabulary  of  grunts.  Sally  learnt  to 
count  perfectly  up  to  six,  and  less  perfectly  to  ten ;  she  could  also  distinguish  white  from  any 
colour,  but  if  other  colours  were  presented  her  she  failed,  apparently  from  colour-blindness.  Of 
this  ape  the  late  Dr.  G.  J.  Romanes  wrote  with  something  more  than  the  enthusiasm  of  a  clever 
man  pursuing  a  favourite  theme :  "  Her  intelligence  was  conspicuously  displayed  by  the  remark- 
able degree  in  which  she  was  able  to 
understand  the  meaning  of  spoken  lan- 
guage— a  degree  fully  equal  to  that  pre- 
sented by  an  infant  a  few  months  before 
emerging  from  infancy,  and  therefore 
higher  than  that  which  is  presented  by 
any  brute,  so  far  at  least  as  I  have 
evidence  to  show."  Romanes  here 
speaks  only,  be  it  noticed,  of  ability  to 
understand  human  speech — not  to  think 
and  act  But  this  is  in  itself  a  great 
mark  of  intelligence  on  human  lines. 
"  Having  enlisted  the  cooperation  of  the 
keepers,  I  requested  them  to  ask  the  ape 
repeatedly  for  one  straw,  two  straws, 
three  straws.  These  she  was  to  pick  up 
and  hand  out  from  among  the  litter  of 
her  cage.  No  constant  order  was  to  be 
observed  in  making  these  requests ;  but 
whenever  she  handed  a  number  not  asked 
for  her  offer  was  to  be  refused,  while  if 
she  gave  the  proper  number  her  offer 
was  to  be  accepted,  and  she  was  to  re- 
ceive a  piece  of  fruit  in  payment.  In 
this  way  the  ape  had  learnt  to  associate 
these  three  numbers  with  the  names. 
As  soon  as  the  animal  understood  what 
was  required,  she  never  failed  to  give 
the  number  of  straws  asked  for.  Her 
education  was  then  completed  in  a  similar 
manner  from  three  to  four,  and  from 
four  to  five  straws.  Sally  rarely  made 

mistakes  up  to  that  number;  but  above  pt,»,b,  G.  w.  wn,>»  «•  c..,  Ltd.] 

five,  and  up  to  ten,  to  which  one  of  the  A  YOUNG  CHIMPANZEE 

keepers      endeavoured      to      advance     her  Thit  excellent  photograph,  by  Major  Nott,   F.Z.S.,  is  particularly  good, 

education,  the  result  is  uncertain.     It  is  ai  sAowins  the  manner  in  "which  'Aese  animals  use  their  handi  an*f«* 


THE    LIVING    ANIMALS    OF    THE    WORLD 


evident  that  she  understands  the  words  seven, 
eight,  nine,  and  ten  to  betoken  numbers  higher 
than  those  below  them.  When  she  was  asked 
for  any  number  above  six,  she  always  gave 
some  number  over  six  and  under  ten  She 
sometimes  doubled  over  a  straw  to  make  it 
present  two  ends,  and  was  supposed  (thus)  to 
hasten  the  attainment  of  her  task."  By  no 
means  all  the  chimpanzees  are  so  patient  as 
Sally.  One  kept  in  the  Zoological  Gardens 
for  some  time  made  an  incessant  noise  by 
stamping  on  the  back  of  the  box  in  which  it 
was  confined.  It  struck  this  with  the  flat  of 
its  foot  while  hanging  to  the  cross-bar  or  perch, 
and  made  a  prodigious  din.  This  seems  to 
bear  out  the  stories  of  chimpanzees  assembling 
and  drumming  on  logs  in  the  Central  African 
forests. 

THE  GORILLA 

The  name  of  this  enormous  ape  lias  been 
known  since  450  B.  c.  Hanno  the  Cartha- 
ginian, when  off  Sierra  Leone,  met  with  wild 
men  and  women  whom  the  interpreter  called 
GORILLAS.  The  males  escaped  and  flung 
stones  from  the  rocks,  but  several  females  were 
captured.  These  animals  could  not  have  been  gorillas,  but  were  probably  baboons.  Andrew 
Battell,  already  mentioned,  described  the  gorilla  under  the  name  of  Pongo.  He  says  it  is  like  a 
man,  but  without  understanding  even  to  put  a  log  on  a  fire ;  it  kills  Negroes,  and  drives  off  the 
elephant  with  clubs ;  it  is  never  taken  alive,  but  its  young  are  killed  with  poisoned  arrows ;  it 
covers  its  dead  with  boughs.  Dr.  Savage  described  it  in  1847.  Later  Du  Chaillu  visited  its 
haunts,  and  his  well-known  book  relates  how  he  met  and  killed  several  specimens.  But  Mr. 
Winwood  Reade,  who  also  went  in  quest  of  it,  declared  that  Du  Chaillu,  like  himself,  never 
saw  a  live  gorilla.  Von  Koppenfels,  however,  saw  a  family  of  four  feeding,  besides  shooting 
others.  The  late  Miss  Kingsley  met  several,  one  of  which  was  killed  by  her  elephant-men. 

The  gorilla  has  a  limited  range,  extending  from  2°  north  to  5°  south  latitude  in  West  Africa, 
a  moist  overgrown  region  including  the  mouth  of  the  Gaboon  River.  How  far  east  it  is  found 
is  uncertain,  but  it  is  known  in  the  Sierra  del  Cristal.  In  1851-52  it  was  seen  in  considerable 
numbers  on  the  coast. 

The  Gorilla  is  the  largest,  strongest,  and  most  formidable  of  the  Primates.  An  adult  male 
is  from  5  feet  8  inches  to  6  feet  high,  heavily  built,  with  arms  and  chest  of  extraordinary  power. 
The  arms  reach  to  the  middle  of  the  legs.  The  hands  are  clumsy,  the  thumb  short,  and  the 
fingers  joined  by  a  web.  The  neck  scarcely  exists.  The  leg  has  a  slight  calf.  The  toes  are 
stumpy  and  thick ;  the  great  toe  moves  like  a  thumb.  The  head  is  large  and  receding,  with 
enormous  ridges  above  the  eyes,  which  give  it  a  diabolical  appearance.  The  canine  teeth  are 
developed  into  huge  tusks.  The  nose  has  a  long  bridge,  and  the  nostrils  look  downwards.  The 
ear  is  small  and  man-like. 

In  colour  the  gorilla  varies  from  deep  black  to  iron-gray,  with  a  reddish  tinge  on  the  head  ; 
old  animals  become  grizzled.  The  outer  hair  is  ringed  gray  and  brown ;  beneath  it  is  a  woolly 
growth.  The  female  is  smaller — not  exceeding  4  feet  6  inches — and  less  hideous,  as  the  canines 


Phtti  bj  A.  S.  Rutland  &  Sans 

HEAD    OF   MALE    GORILLA 

This  is  a  photograph  of  one  of  the  first  gorillas  ever  brought  to  England. 
It  -was  sent  by  the  famous  M..  du  Chaillu 


Ry  : permission  of  ff err  L'mlaaff.  .  _™ ,  ,->  p  p. 

THE    LARGEST    GORILLA    EVER    CAPT 

Ihl.  hug.  ape,  o  feet  5  inch-s  MSh,  m^on.  .  dl.t»»  "I  over  8  fee,  f ringer  to  flnge, 


APES,    MONKEYS,    AND    LEMURS 


are  much  smaller,  and  the  ridges  above  the  eyes  are  not  noticeable,  a  feature  common  also  to  the 
young. 

Timid,  superstitious  natives  and  credulous  or  untrustworthy  travelers  have  left  still  wrapped 
in  mystery  many  of  the  habits  of  this  mighty  ape,  whose  fever-stricken,  forest-clad  haunts  render 
investigation  always  difficult,  often  impossible.  Many  tales  of  its  ferocity  and  strength  are 
obviously  untrue,  but  we  think  that  too  much  has  been  disbelieved.  That  a  huge  arm  descends 
from  a  tree,  draws  up  and  chokes  the  wayfarer,  must  be  false,  for  intelligent  natives  have  con- 
fessed to  knowing  no  instance  of  the  gorilla  attacking  man.  That  it  vanquishes  the  leopard  is 
probable  ;  that  it  has  driven  the  lion  from  its  haunts  requires  proof.  Nor  can  we  accept  tales  of 
the  carrying  off  of  Negro  women  ;  and  the  defeat  of  the  elephants,  too,  must  be  considered  a 
fiction. 

But  we  must  believe  that  this  ape,  if  provoked  or  wounded,  is  a  terrible  foe,  capable  of  rip- 
ping open  a  man  with  one  stroke  of  its  paw,  or  of  cracking  the  skull  of  a  hunter  as  easily  as  a 
squirrel  cracks  a  nut.  There  is  a  tale  of  a  tribe  that  kept  an  enormous  gorilla  as  executioner, 
which  tore  its  victims  to  pieces,  until  an  Englishman,  doomed  to  meet  it,  noticing  a  large  swell- 
ing near  its  ribs,  killed  it  with  a  heavy  blow  or  two  on  the  weak  spot. 

Gorillas  live  mainly  in  the  trees  on  whose  fruit  they  subsist ;  they  construct  a  shelter  in  the 
lower  boughs  for  the  family,  and  as  a  lying-in  place  for  the  female.  The  male  is  said  to  sleep 
below,  with  his  back  against  the  tree — a  favourite  attitude  with  both  sexes — to  keep  off  leopards. 
On  the  ground  it  moves  on  all-fours,  with  a  curious  swinging  action,  caused  by  putting  its  hands 
with  fingers  extended  on  the  ground,  and  bringing  its  body  forward  by  a  half-jump.  Having  a 
heel,  it  can  stand  better  than  other  apes ;  but  this  attitude  is  not  common,  and  Du  Chaillu  appears 
to  have  been  mistaken  when  he  de- 
scribes the  gorilla  as  attacking  upright. 

In  captivity  only  immature  speci- 
mens have  been  seen — Barnum's  great 
ape  being  one  of  the  larger  forms  of 
chimpanzee.  Accounts  vary  as  to  the 
temper  of  the  gorilla,  some  describing 
it  as  untamable,  while  others  say  it 
is  docile  and  playful  when  young. 
There  is  a  wonderful  tale  that  a 
gorilla  over  6  feet  high  was  captured 
near  Tanganyika,  but  nothing  more 
has  reached  us  about  it. 

When  enraged,  a  gorilla  beats  its 
breast,  as  the  writer  was  informed  by 
a  keeper,  who  thus  confirmed  Du 
Chaillu's  account.  Its  usual  voice  is 
a  grunt,  which,  when  the  animal  is 
excited,  becomes  a  roar. 

THE  ORANG-UTAN 

This  great  red  ape  was  mentioned 
by  Linnaeus  in  1766,  and  at  the  begin- 
ning of  the  last  century  a  specimen 
living  in  the  Prince  of  Orange's  col- 
lection was  described  by  Vosmaer. 

There  are  three  varieties  of  the 
ORANG,  called  by  the  Dyaks  Ml  AS- 


B)  firmiishn  of  Htrr  Omlaujf] 

A   MALE   GORILLA 


[Hamburg 


This  photograph  of  the  largest  gorilla  known  -was  taken  immediately  after  death 
by  Herr  Paschen  at  Yaunde,  and  gives  an  excellent  idea  of  the  size  of  these  ani- 
mals as  compared  ivitA  Negroes.  The  animal  "weighed  400  Ibs, 


THE    LIVING    ANIMALS    OF    THE    WORLD 


PAPPAN,  MIAS-RAMBI,  and  MIAS-KASSU,  the  third  of  which  is  smaller,  has  no  cheek-excrescences, 
and  very  large  teeth.     Some  naturalists  recognise  a  pale  and  a  dark  race. 

Most  of  our  information  is  due  to  Raja  Brooke  and  Dr.  Wallace.  The  species  is  confined  to 
Borneo  and  Sumatra,  but  fossils  have  been  found  in  India  of  this  genus,  as  well  as  of  a  chim- 
panzee The  orang  is  less  man-like  than  the  chimpanzee  and  gorilla.  In  height  the  male  varies 
from  3  feet  10  inches  to  4  feet  6  inches,  the  female  being  a  few  inches  shorter.  It  is  a  heavy 
creature,  with  large  head— often  a  foot  in  breadth— thick  neck,  powerful  arms,  which  reach  nearly 
to  the  ankles,  and  protuberant  abdomen.  Its  legs  are  short  and  bowed.  The  forehead  is  high, 
the  nose  fairly  large,  the  ears  very  human.  The  throat  is  ornamented  with  large  pouches,  and 
there  are  often  callosities  on  the  cheeks.  The  fingers  are  webbed,  the  thumb  small,  the  foot  long 

and  narrow,  the  great  toe 
small  and  often  without  a 
nail.  The  brain  is  man  like, 
and  the  ribs  agree  in  number 
with  those  of  man  ;  but  there 
are  nine  bones  in  the  wrist, 
whereas  man,  the  gorilla,  and 
the  chimpanzee  have  but 
eight.  The  canine  teeth  are 
enormous  in  the  male.  The 
hair,  a  foot  or  more  long  on 
the  shoulders  and  thighs,  is 
yellowish  red :  there  is  a 
slight  beard.  The  skin  is 
gray  or  brown,  and  often,  in 
adults,  black. 

The  orang  is  entirely  a 
tree-living  animal,  and  is  only 
found  in  moist  districts  where 
there  is  much  virgin  forest. 
On  the  ground  it  progresses 
clumsily  on  all-fours,  using 
its  arms  as  crutches,  and  with 
the  side  only  of  its  feet  on  the 
ground.  In  trees  it  travels 
deliberately  but  with  perfect 
ease,  swinging  along  under- 
neath the  branches,  although 
it  also  walks  along  them  semi-erect.  It  lives  alone  with  mate  and  young,  and  builds  a  sleeping 
place  sufficiently  low  to  avoid  the  wind.  Its  food  is  leaves  and  fruit,  especially  the  durian ;  its 
feeding-time,  midday. 

No  animal  molests  the  mias  save — so  say  the  Dyaks — the  python  and  crocodile,  both  of 
which  it  kills  by  tearing  with  its  hands.  It  never  attacks  man,  but  has  been  known  to  bite 
savagely  when  brought  to  bay,  and  it  is  very  tenacious  of  life,  one  being  found  by  Mr.  Wallace 
still  alive  after  a  fall  from  a  tree,  when  "  both  legs  had  been  broken,  its  hip-joint  and  the  root  of 
the  spine  shattered,  and  two  bullets  flattened  in  neck  and  jaws." 

In  captivity  young  orangs  are  playful  and  docile,  but  passionate.  Less  intelligent  than 
chimpanzees,  they  may  be  taught  to  eat  and  drink  nicely,  and  to  obey  simple  commands.  One 
in  the  Zoo  at  present  has  acquired  the  rudiments  of  drill.  They  will  eat  meat  and  eggs,  and 
drink  wine,  beer,  spirits,  and  tea.  An  orang  described  years  ago  by  Dr.  Clarke  Abel  was  allowed 


Photo  by  Ottomar  dnichiitx] 

YOUNG    ORANG-UTANS 


IBerlin 


It  "will  be  seen  here,  from  the  profile,  that  the  young  anthropoid  ape  has  only  the  upper  part  of 
the  head  at  all  approaching  the  human  type 


s 


THE    LIVING    ANIMALS    OF   THE    WORLD 


the  run  of  the  ship  on  the  voyage  to  England,  and  would  play  with  the  sailors  in  the  rigging. 
When  refused  food  he  pretended  to  commit  suicide,  and  rushed  over  the  side,  only  to  be  found 
under  the  chains. 

The  orang  is  the  least  interesting  of  the  three  great  apes  ;  he  lacks  the  power  and  brutality 
of  the  gorilla  and  the  intelligence  of  the  chimpanzee.  "  The  orang,"  said  its  keeper  to  the  writer 
"  is  a  buffoon  ;  the  chimpanzee,  a  gentleman." 

It  is  worth  remark  that,  although  all  these  apes  soon  die  in  menageries,  in  Calcutta,  where 
they  are  kept  in  the  open,  orangs  thrive  well. 

THE  GIBBONS 

Next  after  the  great  apes  in  man-like  characters  come  a  few  long-armed,  tailless  apes,  known 
as  the  GIBBONS.  Like  the  orang-utan,  they  live  in  the  great  tropical  forests  of  Asia,  especially 


PJictt  by  Ottnaar  jfnteMtx] 


TWO   BABY   ORANG-UTANS.     THE  TUG-OF-WAR 


the  Indian  Archipelago;  like  the  latter,  they  are  gentle,  affectionate  creatures  ;  and  they  have 
also  a  natural  affection  for  man.  But  it  is  in  mind  and  temperament,  rather  than  in  skeleton, 
that  the  links  and  differences  between  men  and  monkeys  must  be  sought.  It  will  be  found  that 
these  forest  apes  differ  from  other  animals  and  from  the  true  monkeys  mainly  in  this-that  they 
are  predisposed  to  be  friendly  to  man  and  to  obey  him,  and  that  they  have  no  bias  towards  mis- 
chief, or  «  monkey  tricks."  They  are  thoughtful,  well  behaved,  and  sedate. 

The  SIAMANG,  one  of  the  largest  of  the  long-armed,  tailless  gibbons,  lives  in  the  Malay 

The  arms  of  a  specimen  only  3  feet  high  measured  5  feet  6  inches  across.     This, 

the  gibbons,  makes  its  way  from  tree  to  tree  mainly  by  swinging  itself  by  its  arms.     But 

siamang  can  walk  upright  and  run.     One  kept  on  board  ship  would  walk  down  the  cabin 

breakfast-table  without  upsetting  the  china.     The  WHITE-HANDED  GIBBON  is  found  in  Tenasserim, 


APES,    MONKEYS,    AND    LEMURS 


southwest  of  Burma.  This  ape  has  a 
musical  howl,  which  the  whole  flock  utters 
in  the  early  mornings  on  the  tree-tops.  In 
Northern  India,  in  the  hills  beyond  the 
Brahmaputra,  lives  another  gibbon,  the 
HULOCK.  One  of  these  kept  in  captivity 
soon  learnt  to  eat  properly  at  meals,  and  to 
drink  out  of  a  cup,  instead  of  dipping  his 
fingers  in  the  tea  and  milk  and  then  suck- 
ing them.  The  SILVERY  GIBBON  kept  at 
the  Zoological  Gardens  was  a  most  amiable 
pet,  and  had  all  the  agility  of  the  other 
gibbons.  It  is  very  seldom  seen  in  this 
country,  being  a  native  of  Java,  where  it  is 
said  to  show  the  most  astonishing  activity 
among  the  tall  cane-groves.  One  of  the 
first  ever  brought  to  England  belonged  to 
the  great  Lord  Clive.  The  AGILE  GIBBON 
is  another  and  darker  ape  of  this  group. 

The  list  of  the  man-like  ape  closes 
with  this  group.  All  the  gibbons  are 
highly  specialised  for  tree-climbing  and  an 
entirely  arboreal  life ;  but  it  is  undeniable 
that,  apart  from  the  modifications  necessary 
for  this,  such  as  the  abnormal  length  of 
the  arms,  the  skeleton  closely  resembles 
none  of  these  apes  show  any  remarkable 
so  simple  a  way,  by  plucking  fruits  and 


Phett  by  Tori  6*  Son] 


HULOCK    GIBBON 


The  great  length  of  arm  in  comparison  -with  the  body  and  head  should  here  be 

noted 


Photo  by  Tfork  &  Son]  [Netting  Hill 

WHITE-HANDED    GIBBON 

This  gibbon  is  found  in  the  forests  of  the  Malay  Archipelago 

that  of  the  human  being.  In  their  habits,  when  wild, 
degree  of  intelligence ;  but  their  living  is  gained  in 
leaves,  that  there  is  nothing  in  their  surroundings  to 
stimulate  thought.  They  do  not  need 
even  to  think  of  a  time  of  famine  or 
winter,  or  to  lay  up  a  stock  of  food  for 
such  a  season,  because  they  live  in  the 
forests  under  the  Equator. 

MONKEYS 
THE  DOG-SHAPED  MONKEYS 

AFTER  the  gibbons  come  a  vast 
number  of  monkeys  of  every  conceiv- 
able size,  shape,  and  variety,  which 
naturalists  have  arranged  in  consecutive 
order  with  fair  success.  Until  we  reach 
the  Baboons,  and  go  on  to  the  South 
American  Monkeys  and  the  Lemurs,  it 
is  not  easy  to  give  any  idea  of  what 
these  monkeys  do  or  look  like  merely 
by  referring  to  their  scientific  groups. 
The  usual  order  of  natural  histories  will 
here  be  followed,  and  the  descriptions 
will,  so  far  as  possible,  present  the 


I  Nutting  Hill 


10 


THE     LIVING    ANIMALS    OF    THE    WORLD 


habits     and     appearance    of   the 
monkeys  specially  noticed. 

This  great  family  of  true 
monkeys  contains  the  Sacred 
Monkeys,  or  Langurs,  of  India,  the 
Guerezas  and  Guenons  of  Africa, 
the  Mangabeys,  Macaques,  and 
Baboons.  Most  of  them  have 
naked,  hard  patches  of  skin  on  the 
hindquarters,  and  the  partition  be- 
tween the  nostrils  is  narrow.  Some 
have  tails,  some  none,  and  they 
exhibit  the  most  astonishing  dif- 
ferences of  size  and  shape.  Per- 
haps the  most  grotesque  and 
astonishing  of  them  all  is  the 
PROBOSCIS  MONKEY.  It  is  allied 
to  the  langurs,  and  is  a  native  of 
the  island  of  Borneo,  to  which  it 
is  confined ;  its  home  is  the  west 
bank  of  the  Sarawak  River.  It 
is  an  arboreal  creature,  living  in 
small  companies.  Mr.  Hose,  who 

ph,t,  b,  A.  s.  Rutland  *•  s,n,  saw  them  in  their  native  haunts, 

HEAD   OF   PROBOSCIS   MONKEY  says   that  the  proboscis  monkeys 

A  native  of  Borneo.     Next  to  the  orang-utan,  the  most  striking  monkey  in  the  Malay          kept  in  the    trees    Overhanging  the 

Archipelago  river,  and  were  most  difficult  to 

shoot.  "  I  saw  altogether  about  150  of  these  monkeys,  and  without  a  single  exception  all  were 
in  trees  over  the  water,  either  lake,  river,  or  in  submerged  forest.  As  long  as  they  are  in  sight, 
they  are  very  conspicuous  objects,  choosing  the  most  commanding  positions  on  open  tree-tops. 
Once  I  saw  thirteen  in  one  tree,  sitting  lazily  on  the  branches,  as  is  their  habit,  sunning  them- 
selves, and  enjoying  the  scenery."  They  are  very  striking  animals  in  colour,  as  well  as  in  form. 
The  face  is  cinnamon-brown,  the  sides  marked  with  reddish  brown  and  white,  the  belly  white, 
the  back  red-brown  and  dark  brown.  Next  to  the  orang-utan,  these  are  the  most  striking 
monkeys  in  the  Malay  Archipelago. 

The  greater  number  of  the  species  intermediate  between  the  gibbons  and  the  New  World 
species  are  called  "  DOG-SHAPED  "  MONKEYS.  We  wonder  why  ?  Only  the  baboon  and  a  few 
others  are  in  the  least  like  dogs.  The  various  SACRED  MONKEYS  of  India  are  often  seen  in  this 
country,  and  are  quite  representative  of  the  "  miscellaneous  "  monkeys  in  general.  Most  of  them 
have  cheek-pouches,  a  useful  monkey-pocket.  They  poke  food  into  their  pouches,  which  unfold 
to  be  filled,  or  lie  flat  when  not  wanted  ;  and  with  a  pocketful  of  nuts  or  rice  on  either  side  of  their 
faces,  they  can  scream,  eat,  bite,  or  scold  quite  comfortably,  which  they  could  not  do  with  their 
mouths  full.  The  pouchless  monkeys  have  only  their  big  stomachs  to  rely  on. 

The  ENTELLUS  MONKEY  is  the  most  sacred  of  all  in  India.  It  is  gray  above  and  nutty 
brown  below,  long-legged  and  active,  a  thief  and  an  impudent  robber.  In  one  of  the  Indian 
cities  they  became  such  a  nuisance  that  the  faithful  determined  to  catch  and  send  away  some 
hundreds.  This  was  done,  and  the  holy  monkeys  were  deported  in  covered  carts,  and  released 
many  miles  off.  But  the  monkeys  were  too  clever.  Having  thoroughly  enjoyed  their  ride,  they 
all  refused  to  part  with  the  carts,  and,  hopping  and  grimacing,  came  leaping  all  the  way  back 
beside  them  to  the  city,  grateful  for  their  outing.  One  city  obtained  leave  to  kill  the  monkeys; 


APES,     MONKEYS,    AND    LEMURS 


1 1 


but  the  next  city  then  sued  them  for  "  killing  their  deceased  ancestors."  In  these  monkey- 
infested  cities,  if  one  man  wishes  to  spite  another,  he  throws  a  few  handfuls  of  rice  on  to  the  roof 
of  his  house  about  the  rainy  season.  The  monkeys  come,  find  the  rice,  and  quietly  lift  off  many 
of  the  tiles  and  throw  them  away,  seeking  more  rice  in  the  interstices. 

This  is  not  the  monkey  commonly  seen  in  the  hills  and  at  Simla.  The  large  long-tailed 
monkey  there  is  the  HIMALAYAN  LANGUR,  one  of  the  common  animals  of  the  hills.  "  The 
langur,"  says  Mr.  Lockwood  Kipling  in  his  "  Beast  and  Man  in  India,"  "  is,  in  his  way,  a  king  of 
the  jungle,  nor  is  he  often  met  with  in  captivity.  In  some  parts  of  India  troops  of  langurs  come 
bounding  with  a  mighty  air  of  interest  and  curiosity  to  look  at  passing  trains,  their  long  tails 


Photo  bj  A.  S.  Rudland  if  Sons 


CROSS-BEARING    LANGUR    AND    YOUNG 

A  forest  monkey  of  Borneo 


lifted  like  notes  of  interrogation ;  but  frequently,  when  fairly  perched  on  a  wall  or  tree  alongside, 
they  seem  to  forget  all  about  it,  and  avert  their  heads  with  an  affectation  of  languid  indifference." 
In  India  no  distinction  is  made  between  monkeys.  It  is  an  abominable  act  of  sacrilege  to 
kill  one  of  any  kind.  In  the  streets  holy  bulls,  calves,  parrakeets,  sparrows,  and  monkeys  all  rob 
the  shops.  One  monkey-ridden  municipality  sent  off  its  inconvenient  but  holy  guests  by  rail, 
advising  the  station-master  to  let  them  loose  at  the  place  to  which  they  were  consigned.  The 
station,  Saharanpur,  was  a  kind  of  Indian  Chicago,  and  the  monkeys  got  into  the  engine-sheds  and 
workshops  among  the  driving-wheels  and  bands.  One  got  in  the  double  roof  of  an  inspection- 


12 


THE    LIVING    ANIMALS    OF    THE    WORLD 


car,  and  thence  stole  mutton,  corkscrews,  camp-glasses,  and  dusters.  Among  many  other  inter- 
esting and  correct  monkey  stories  of  Mr.  Kipling's  is  the  following :  "  The  chief  confectioner  of 
Simla  had  prepared  a  most  splendid  bride-cake,  which  was  safely  put  by  in  a  locked  room,  that, 
like  most  back  rooms  in  Simla,  looked  out  on  the  mountainside.  It  is  little  use  locking  the 
door  when  the  window  is  left  open.  When  they  came  to  fetch  the  bride-cake,  the  last  piece  of 
it  was  being  handed  out  of  the  window  by  a  chain  of  monkeys,  who  whitened  the  hillside  with 
its  fragments." 

From  India  to  Ceylon  is  no  great  way,  yet  in  the  latter  island  different  monkeys  are  found. 
The  two  best  known  are  the  WHITE-BEARDED  WANDEROO  MONKEY  and  the  GREAT  WANDEROO. 
Both  are  grave,  well-behaved  monkeys.  The  former  has  white  whiskers  and  a  white  beard,  and 
looks  so  wise  he  is  called  in  Latin  Nestor,  after  the  ancient  counsellor  of  the  Greeks.  Nice,  clean 
little  monkeys  are  these,  and  pretty  pets.  The  great  wanderoo  is  rarer.  It  lives  in  the  hills. 
"  A  flock  of  them,"  says  Mr.  Dallas,  "  will  take  possession  of  a  palm-grove,  and  so  well  can  they 
conceal  themselves  in  the  leaves  that  the  whole  party  become  invisible.  The  presence  of  a  dog 
excites  their  irresistible  curiosity,  and  in  order  to  watch  his  movements  they  never  fail  to  betray 
themselves.  They  may  be  seen  congregated  on  the  roof  of  a  native  hut.  Some  years  ago  the 
child  of  a  European  clergyman,  having  been  left  on  the  ground  by  a  nurse,  was  bitten  and  teased 
to  death  by  them.  These  monkeys  have  only  one  wife."  Near  relatives  of  the  langurs  are  the 
two  species  of  SNUB-NOSED  MONKEYS,  one  of  which  (see  figure  on  page  18)  inhabits  Eastern  Tibet 
and  Northwestern  China,  and  the  other  the  valley  of  the  Mekong. 

THE  GUEREZAS  AND  GUENONS 

Among  the  ordinary  monkeys 
of  the  Old  World  are  some  with 
very  striking  hair  and  colours. 
The  GUEREZA  of  Abyssinia  has 
bright  white  and  black  fur,  with 
long  white  fringes  on  the  sides. 
This  is  the  black-and-white  skin 
fastened  by  the  Abyssinians  to 
their  shields,  and,  if  we  are  not 
wrong,  by  the  Kaffirs  also. 
Among  the  GUENONS,  a  large 
tribe  of  monkeys  living  in  the 
African  forests,  many  of  which 
find  their  way  here  as  "  organ 
monkeys,"  is  the  DIANA,  a  most 
beautiful  creature,  living  on  the 
Guinea  Coast.  It  has  a  white 
crescent  on  its  forehead,  bluish- 
gray  fur,  a  white  beard,  and  a 
patch  of  brilliant  chestnut  on 
the  back,  the  belly  white  and 
orange.  A  lady,  Mrs.  Bowditch, 
gives  the  following  account  of 
a  Diana  monkey  on  board  ship. 
It  jumped  on  to  her  shoulder, 
stared  into  her  face,  and  then 
made  friends,  seated  itself  on  her 
knees,  and  carefully  examined  her 


fhtto  t>f  A.  S.  Rutland  Iff  Son, 

MALE    HIMALAYAN    LANGUR 

A  king  of  ike  jungle,  not  often  met  -with  in  captivity 


GELADA    BABOONS    AT    HOME 

This  photograph  it  probably  unique,  as  a  gelada  baboon  has  been  rarely  seen.      It  shows  them  at  home  looking  for  food  on  the  ground  under  the 
bamboos  and  palms.      It  was  taken  by  Lord  Delamere  in  the  East  African  jungle 

13 


THE 


LIVING    ANIMALS    OF    THE    WORLD 


Photo  by  A.  S.  Rutland  <V  Son. 

MANTLED    GUEREZA 

Thit  group  of  monkeys  supplies  the  "monkey  muff's'"''  once  -very  fashionable. 
The  species  with  white  plumes  is  used  to  decorate  the  Kaffir  Melds 


hands.  "  He  then  tried  to  pull  off  my 
rings,  when  I  gave  him  some  biscuits, 
and  making  a  bed  for  him  with  my  hand- 
kerchief he  then  settled  himself  comfort- 
ably to  sleep  ;  and  from  that  moment  we 
were  sworn  allies.  When  mischievous, 
he  was  often  banished  to  a  hen-coop. 
Much  more  effect  was  produced  by  taking 
him  in  sight  of  the  panther,  who  always 
seemed  most  willing  to  devour  him.  On 
these  occasions  I  held  him  by  the  tail 
before  the  cage  ;  but  long  before  I  reached 
it,  knowing  where  he  was  going,  he  pre- 
tended to  be  dead.  His  eyes  were  closed 
quite  fast,  and  every  limb  was  as  stiff  as 
though  there  were  no  life  in  him.  When 
taken  away,  he  would  open  one  eye  a 
little,  to  see  whereabouts  he  might  be ; 
but  if  he  caught  sight  of  the  panther's 
cage  it  was  instantly  closed,  and  he  be- 
came as  stiff  as  before."  This  monkey 
stole  the  men's  knives,  tools,  and  hand- 
kerchiefs, and  even  their  caps,  which  he 
threw  into  the  sea.  He  would  carefully 
feed  the  parrots,  chewing  up  biscuit  and 
presenting  them  the  bits  ;  and  he  caught 
another  small  monkey  and  painted  it 
black  !  Altogether,  he  must  have  enliv- 
ened the  voyage.  The  GRIVET  MONKEY, 
the  GREEN  MONKEY,  the  MONA  MONKEY, 
and  the  MANGABEY  are  other  commonly 
seen  African  species. 


THE  MACAQUES 

The  MACAQUES,  of  which  there  are  many  kinds,  from  the  Rock  of  Gibraltar  to  far  Japan, 
occupy  the  catalogue  between  the  guenon  and  the  baboon.  The  COMMON  MACAQUE  and  many 
others  have  tails.  Those  of  Japan,  and  some  of  those  of  China,  notably  the  TCHELI  MONKEY, 
kept  outside  the  monkey -house  at  the  Zoo,  and  the  JAPANESE  MACAQUE,  at  the  other  entrance,  are 
tailless,  and  much  more  like  anthropoid  apes.  The  Tcheli  monkey  is  large  and  powerful,  but 
other  macaques  are  of  all  sizes  down  to  little  creatures  no  bigger  than  a  kitten.  Some  live  in  the 
hottest  plains,  others  in  the  mountains.  The  COMMON  MACAQUE,  found  in  the  Malay  Archi- 
pelago, is  a  strong,  medium-sized  monkey.  The  FORMOSAN  MACAQUE  is  a  rock-living  creature ; 
those  of  Japan  inhabit  the  pine-groves,  and  are  fond  of  pelting  any  one  who  passes  with  stones 
and  fir-cones.  The  BONNET  MACAQUE  is  an  amusing  little  beast,  very  fond  of  hugging  and 
nursing  others  in  captivity.  The  BANDAR  or  RHESUS  MONKEY,  a  common  species,  also  belongs 
to  this  group.  But  the  most  interesting  to  Europeans  is  the  MAGOT,  or  BARBARY  APE.  It  is  the 
last  monkey  left  in  Europe.  There  it  only  lives  on  the  Rock  of  Gibraltar.  It  was  the  monkey 
which  Galen  is  said  to  have  dissected,  because  he  was  not  permitted  to  dissect  a  human  body. 
These  monkeys  are  carefully  preserved  upon  the  Rock.  Formerly,  when  they  were  more  com- 


APES,    MONKEYS,    AND     LEMURS 


Photo  fy  L.  Mtdiand,  F.Z.S.]  North  FinMty 

DIANA    MONKEY 

One  of  the  most  gaily  coloured  monkey  t  of  Africa 

THE  BABOONS 

Far  the  most  interesting  of  the  apes  in 
the  wild  state  are  the  BABOONS.  Their  dog- 
like  heads  (which  in  some  are  so  large  and 
hideous  that  they  look  like  a  cross  between 
an  ill-tempered  dog  and  a  pig),  short  bodies, 
enormously  strong  arms,  and  loud  barking 
cry  distinguish  them  from  all  other  creatures. 
The  greater  number — for  there  are  many 
kinds — live  in  the  hot,  dry,  stony  parts  of 
Africa.  They  are  familiar  figures  from  the 
cliffs  of  Abyssinia  to  the  Cape,  where  their 
bold  and  predatory  bands  still  occupy  Table 
Mountain.  They  are  almost  the  only  animals 
which  the  high-contracting  Powers  of  Africa 
have  resolved  not  to  protect  at  any  season, 
so  mischievous  are  they  to  crops,  and  recently 
to  the  flocks.  They  kill  the  suckling  lambs, 
and  tear  them  to  pieces  for  the  sake  of  the 
milk  contained  in  their  bodies. 

One  of  the  best-known  baboons  is  the 
CHACMA  of  South  Africa.  The  old  males  grow 
to  a  great  size,  and  are  most  formidable 
creatures.  Naturally,  they  are  very  seldom 
caught ;  but  one  very  large  one  is  in  the 
Zoological  Gardens,  Regent's  Park,  at  the  time 
of  writing.  The  keeper  declares  he  would 
rather  go  into  a  lion's  cage  than  into  the  den 
of  this  beast  when  angry.  Its  head  is  nearly 
one-third  of  its  total  length  from  nose  to  the 
root  of  the  tail.  Its  jaw-power  is  immense, 
and  its  forearm  looks  as  strong  as  Sandow's. 


mon,  they  were  very  mischievous.  The  fol- 
lowing story  was  told  by  Mr.  Bidcup  :  "  The 
apes  of  the  Rock,  led  by  one  particular 
monkey,  were  always  stealing  from  the  kit  of 
a  certain  regiment  encamped  there.  At  last 
the  soldiers  caught  the  leader,  shaved  his 
head  and  face,  and  turned  him  loose.  His 
friends,  who  had  been  watching,  received  him 
with  a  shower  of  sticks  and  stones.  In  these 
desperate  circumstances  the  ape  sneaked  back 
to  his  old  enemies,  the  soldiers,  with  whom 
he  remained."  Lord  Heathfield,  a  former 
Governor  of  the  Rock,  would  never  let 
them  be  hurt;  and  on  one  occasion,  when 
the  Spaniards  were  attempting  a  surprise,  the 
noise  made  by  the  apes  gave  notice  of  their 
attempt. 


Photo  by  G.  W,  Wilson  &•  Co.,  Ltd.} 

BARBARY   APE 


\.A  berate* 


The  last  of  the  European  monkeys  on  this  side  of  the  Mediterranean: 
and  it  is  only  found  on  the  Rock  of  Gibraltar 


16  THE    LIVING    ANIMALS    OF    THE    WORLD 


Photo  by  C.  Riid] 

RHESUS    MONKEY 


N.B. 


A  young  specimen  of  the  common  Bengal  monkey 


Like  all  monkeys,  this  creature  has  the  power  of 
springing  instantaneously  from  a  sitting  position  ;  and 
its  bite  would  cripple  anything  from  a  man  to  a 
leopard.  The  chacmas  live  in  companies  in  the  kopjes, 
whence  they  descend  to  forage  the  mealie-grounds, 
river-beds,  and  bush.  Thence  they  come  down  to  steal 
fruit  and  pumpkins  or  corn,  turn  over  the  stones  and 
catch  beetles,  or  eat  locusts.  Their  robbing  expedi- 
tions are  organised.  Scouts  keep  a  lookout,  the  females 
and  young  are  put  in  the  centre,  and  the  retreat  is  pro- 
tected by  the  old  males.  Children  in  the  Cape  Colony 
are  always  warned  not  to  go  out  when  the  baboons  are 
near.  When  irritated — and  they  are  very  touchy  in 
their  tempers — the  whole  of  the  males  will  some- 
times charge  and  attack.  The  possibility  of  this  is 
very  unpleasant,  and  renders  people  cautious. 

Not  many  years  ago  a  well-known  sportsman 
was  shooting  in  Somaliland.  On  the  other  side  of  a 
rocky  ravine  was  a  troop  of  baboons  of  a  species  of 
which  no  examples  were  in  the  British  Museum. 
Though  he  knew  the  danger,  he  was  tempted  to 
shoot  and  to  secure  a  skin.  At  200  yards  he  killed  one  dead,  which  the  rest  did  not  notice. 
Then  he  hit  another  and  wounded  it.  The  baboon  screamed,  and  instantly  the  others  sat  up, 
saw  the  malefactor,  and  charged  straight  for  him.  Most  fortunately,  they  had  to  scramble  down 
the  ravine  and  up  again,  by  which  time  the  sportsman  and  his  servant  had  put  such  a  distance 
between  them,  making  "  very  good  time  over  the  flat,"  that  the  baboons  contented  themselves 
by  barking  defiance  at  them  when  they  reached  the  level  ground. 

They  are  the  only  mammals  which  thoroughly  understand  combination  for  defense  as  well  as 
attack.  But  Brehm,  the  German  traveler,  gives  a  charming  story  of  genuine  courage  and 
self-sacrifice  shown  by  one.  His  hunting  dogs  gave  chase  to  a  troop  which  was  retreating 
to  some  cliffs,  and  cut  off  a  very  young  one,  which  ran  up  on  to  a  rock,  only  just  out  of  reach  of 
the  dogs.  An  old  male  baboon  saw  this,  and  came  along  to  the  rescue.  Slowly  and  deliberately 
he  descended,  crossed  the  open 
space,  and  stamping  his  hands  on 
the  ground,  showing  his  teeth,  and 
backed  by  the  furious  barks  of  the 
rest  of  the  baboons,  he  discon- 
certed and  cowed  these  savage 

o 

dogs,    climbed    on   to   the    rock, 

picked   up  the  baby,  and  carried 

him  back  safely.     If  the  dogs  had 

attacked    the    old   patriarch,   his 

tribe  would  probably  have  helped 

him.     Burchell,  the  naturalist  after 

whom  Burchell's  zebra  is  named, 

let  his  dogs  chase  a  troop.     The 

baboons    turned    on  them,  killed 

one  on  the  spot  by  biting  through         w.r.  h  A.  s.  Rudtand  &  Smt 

the    great    blood-vessels    of    the  RHESUS   MONKEY  AND   SOOTY   MANGABEY 

neck,    and    laid    bare    the    ribs    of       The  sooty  mangabcy  (to  the  right  of  the  picture)  is  gentle  and  companionable,  but  petu- 
lant and  active 


APES,    MONKEYS,    AND    LEMURS 


Photo  hi  L.  Midland,   F.Z.  S.,  North  Finchlt, 

GREY-CHEEKED    MANGABEY 

One  of  the  small  African  monkeys 


Photo  by  A    S.   Rudland  &*  Stni 

CHINESE    MACAQUE 

This  monkey  lives  in  a  climate  as  cold  as  ours 


another.  The  Cape 
Dutch  in  the  Old  Colony 
would  rather  let  their 
dogs  bait  a  lion  than 
a  troop  of  baboons. 
The  rescue  of  the  infant 
chacma  which  Brehm 
saw  himself  is  a  remarka- 
ble, and  indeed  the  most 
incontestable,  instance 
of  the  exhibition  of 
courage  and  self-sacri- 
fice by  a  male  animal. 

If  the  baboons  were 
not  generally  liable  to 
become  bad-tempered 
when  they  grow  old,  they 
could  probably  be 
trained  to  be  among  the  most  useful  of  animal  helpers  and  servers ;  but  they  are  so 
formidable,  and  so  uncertain  in  temper,  that  they  are  almost  too  dangerous  for  attempts  at 
semi-domestication.  When  experiments  have  been  made,  they  have  had  remarkable  results.  Le 
Vaillant,  one  of  the  early  explorers  in  South  Africa,  had  a  chacma  baboon  which  was  a  better 
watch  than  any  of  his  dogs.  It  gave  warning  of  any  creature  approaching  the  camp  at  night  long 
before  the  dogs  could  hear  or  smell  it.  He  took  it  out  with  him  when  he  was  shooting,  and  used 
to  let  it  collect  edible  roots  for  him.  The  latest  example  of  a  trained  baboon  only  died  a 
few  years  ago.  It  belonged  to  a  railway  signalman  at  Uitenhage  station,  about  200  miles 
up-country  from  Port  Elizabeth,  in  Cape  Colony.  The  man  had  the  misfortune  to  undergo 
an  operation  in  which  both  his  feet  were  amputated,  after  being  crushed  by  the  wheels  of  a  train. 
Being  an  ingenious  fellow,  he  taught  his  baboon,  which  was  a  full-grown  one,  to  pull  him  along  the 
line  on  a  trolley  to  the  "  distant"  signal.  There  the  baboon  stopped  at  the  word  of  command,  and 
the  man  would  work  the  lever  himself.  But  in  time  he  taught  the  baboon  to  do  it,  while  he  sat 
on  the  trolley,  ready  to  help  if  any  mistake  were  made. 

The  chacmas  have  for 
relations  a  number  of  other 
baboons  in  the  rocky  parts 
of  the  African  Continent, 
most  of  which  have  almost 
the  same  habits,  and  are 
not  very  different  in  ap- 
pearance. Among  them 
is  the  GELADA  BABOON,  a 
species  very  common  in 
the  rocky  highlands  of 
Abyssinia ;  another  is  the 
ANUBIS  BABOON  of  the  West 
Coast  of  Africa.  The  latter 
is  numerous  round  the 

ph.t,  by  rork  &  son.  Nomng  Hiii  Portuguese    settlement    of 

GRIVET  MONKEY  Angola.     Whether  the  so- 

This  is  the  sma^mon^ommon ly  taken   about       ^^    £^0*    BABOON    of 


Photo  by  A.  S.  Rudland  &•  Stni 

BONNET    MONKEY,    AND    ARA- 
BIAN    BABOON   (ON  THE  RIGHT) 


i8 


THE    LIVING    ANIMALS    OF    THE    WORLD 


Ptloto  bj  L.  Midland,  F.Z.S.] 

RHESUS    MONKEYS 


[North 


the  menageries  is  a  separate  species  or 
only  the  young  of  some  one  of  the  above- 
mentioned  is  not  very  clear.  But  about 
another  variety  there  can  be  no  doubt.  It 
has  been  separated  from  the  rest  since  the 
days  of  the  Pharaohs.  It  does  not  differ  in 
habits  from  the  other  baboons,  but  inhabits 
the  rocky  parts  of  the  Nile  Valley.  It 
appears  in  Egyptian  mythology  under  the 
name  of  Thoth,  and  is  constantly  seen  in 
the  sculptures  and  hieroglyphs. 

Equally  strong  and  far  more  repulsive 
are  the  two  baboons  of  West  Africa — the 
DRILL  and  the  MANDRILL.  As  young 
specimens  of  these  beasts  are  the  only  ones 
at  all  easily  caught,  and  these  nearly  always 

Thit  photograph  is  particularly  interesting.     It  -was  actually  taken  by  another     die  when  Cutting  their  SCCOttd  teeth  when  in 

monkey,  -which  presied  the  button  of  Mr.  Mediants  cimera  captivity,  large  adult  mandrills  are  seldom 

seen    in    Europe.     They   grow  to  a  great 

size,  and  are  probably  the  most  hideous  of  all  beasts.  The  frightful  nose,  high  cheek-bones,  and 
pig-like  eyes  are  the  basis  of  the  horrible  heads  of  devils  and  goblins  which  Albert  Diirer  and 
other  German  or  Dutch  mediaeval  painters  sometimes  put  on  canvas.  Add  to  the  figure  the  mis- 
placed bright  colours — cobalt-blue  on  the  cheeks,  which  are  scarred,  as  if  by  a  rake,  with  scarlet 
furrows,  and  scarlet  on  the  but- 
tocks— and  it  will  be  admitted  that 
nature  has  invested  this  massive, 
powerful,  and  ferocious  baboon 
with  a  repulsiveness  equaling  in 
completeness  the  extremes  of 
grace  and  beauty  manifested  in  the 
roe-deer  or  the  bird  of  paradise. 

The  natives  of  Guinea  and 
other  parts  of  West  Africa  have 
consistent  accounts  that  the 
mandrills  have  tried  to  carry  off 
females  and  children.  They  live 
in  troops  like  the  chacmas, 
plunder  the  fields,  and,  like  all 
baboons,  spend  much  time  on 
the  ground  walking  on  all-fours. 
When  doing  this,  they  are  quite 
unlike  any  other  creatures.  They 
walk  slowly,  with  the  head  bent 
downwards,  like  a  person  walking 
on  hands  and  knees  looking  for 
a  pin.  With  the  right  hand 
(usually)  they  turn  over  every 

stick  and  stone,  looking  for  insects,          fittn  *,  A.  s.  Rutland  &  son, 
scorpions,  or  snails,  and  these  they  ORANGE   SNUB-NOSED   MONKEY 

Seize  and  eat.       1  he  Writer  has  Seen  ^'s  *hould  be  contrasted  with  the  Proboscis  Monkey 


APES,    MONKEYS,    AND    LEMURS 


baboons  picking  up  sand,  and  straining  it  through  their  fingers,  to  see  if  there  were  ants  in  it 
He  has  also  seen  one  hold  up  sand  in  the  palm  of  its  hand,  and  blow  the  dust  away  with  its 
breath,  and  then  look  again  to  see  if  anything  edible  were  left.  Mandrills  kept  in  captivity  until 
adult  become  very  savage.  One  in  Wombwell's  menagerie  killed  another  monkey  and  a  beagle. 
Mr.  Cross  owned  one  which  would  sit  in  an  armchair,  smoke,  and  drink  porter ;  but  these 
convivial  accomplishments  were  accompanied  by  a  most  ferocious  temper. 

One  of  the  earliest  accounts  of  the  habits  of  the  Abyssinian  baboons  was  given  by  Ludolf  in 
his  "  History  of  Ethiopia."  It  was  translated  into  quaint,  but  excellent  old  English  :  "  Of  Apes," 
he  says,  "  there  are  infinite  flocks  up  and  down  in  the  mountains,  a  thousand  and  more  together, 
and  they  leave  no  stone  unturned.  If  they  meet  with  one  that  two  or  three  cannot  lift  they  call 
for  more  aid,  and  all  for  the  sake  of  the  Worms  that  lye  under,  a  sort  of  dyet  which  they  relish 
exceedingly.  They  are  very  greedy  after  Emmets.  So  that  having  found  an  emmet  hill,  they 


Photo  by  Ottomar  jlnichutx."] 


PIG-TAILED    MONKEY 

"  Footing  the  line."      Note  how  the  monkey  uses  its  feet  as  hands  when  walking  on  a  branch 


[Btrlin 


presently  surround  it,  and  laying  their  fore  paws  with  the  hollow  downward  upon  the  ant  heap, 
as  soon  as  the  Emmets  creep  into  their  treacherous  palms  they  lick  'em  off,  with  great  comfort  to 
their  stomachs.  And  there  they  will  lye  till  there  is  not  an  Emmet  left.  They  are  also  perni- 
cious to  fruits  and  apples,  and  will  destroy  whole  fields  and  gardens  unless  they  be  looked 
after.  For  they  are  very  cunning,  and  will  never  venture  in  till  the  return  of  their  spies, 
which  they  send  always  before,  who,  giving  all  information  that  it  is  safe,  in  they  rush  with  their 
whole  body  and  make  a  quick  despatch.  Therefore  they  go  very  quiet  and  silent  to  their  prey ; 
and  if  their  young  ones  chance  to  make  a  noise,  they  chastise  them  with  their  fists ;  but  if  the 
coast  is  clear,  then  every  one  has  a  different  noise  to  express  his  joy."  Ludolf  clearly  means  the 
baboons  by  this  description. 

A  more  ancient  story  deals  with  Alexander's  campaigns.  He  encamped  on  a  mountain  on 
which  were  numerous  bands  of  monkeys  (probably  baboons).  On  the  following  morning  the 
sentries  saw  what  looked  like  troops  coming  to  offer  them  battle.  As  they  had  just  won  a 


20 


THE    LIVING    ANIMALS    OF    THE    WORLD 


victory,  they  were  at  a  loss 
to  guess  who  these  new  foes 
might  be.  The  alarm  was 
given,  and  the  Macedonian 
troops  set  out  in  battle-array. 
Then  through  the  morning 
mists  they  saw  that  the 
enemy  was  an  immense  troop 
of  monkeys.  Their  prisoners, 
who  knew  what  the  alarm 
was  caused  by,  made  no  small 
sport  of  the  Macedonians. 

THE  SPEECH  OF  MONKEYS 

Something  should  be  said 
of  the  alleged  "  speech  of 
monkeys"  which  Professor 
Garner  believed  himself  to 
have  discovered.  He  rightly 
excluded  mere  sounds  showing 
joy,  desire,  or  sorrow  from  the 
faculty  of  speech,  but  claimed 
to  have  detected  special  words, 
one  meaning  "  food,"  another 
"  drink,"  another  "  give  me 
that,"  another  meaning 
"  monkey,"  or  an  identification 
of  a  second  animal  or  monkey. 
He  used  a  phonograph  to 
keep  permanent  record  of  the 
sounds,  and  made  an  expe- 
dition to  the  West  African  forests  in  the  hope  that  he  might  induce  the  large  anthropoid 
apes  to  answer  the  sounds  which  are  so  often  uttered  by  their  kind  in  our  menageries. 
The  enterprise  ended,  as  might  have  been  expected,  in  failure.  Nor  was  it  in  the  least 
necessary  to  go  and  sit  in  a  cage  in  an  African  forest  in  the  hope  of  striking  up  an  acquaint- 
ance with  the  native  chimpanzees.  The  little  Capuchin  monkeys,  whose  voices  and  sounds  he 
had  ample  opportunity  of  observing  here,  give  sufficient  material  for  trying  experiments  in  the 
meaning  of  monkey  sounds.  The  writer  believes  that  it  is  highly  probable  that  the  cleverer 
monkeys  have  a  great  many  notes  or  sounds  which  the  others  do  understand,  if  only  because 
they  make  the  same  under  similar  circumstances,  otherwise  they  would  not  utter  them.  They 
are  like  the  sounds  which  an  intelligent  but  nearly  dumb  person  might  make.  Also  they  have 
very  sharp  ears,  and  some  of  them  can  understand  musical  sounds,  so  far  as  to  show  a  very 
marked  attention  to  them.  The  following  account  of  an  experiment  of  this  kind,  when  a  violin 
was  being  played,  is  related  in  "  Life  at  the  Zoo  "  :  "  The  Capuchin  monkeys,  the  species  selected 
by  Professor  Garner  for  his  experiments  in  monkey  language,  showed  the  strangest  and  most 
amusing  excitement.  These  pretty  little  creatures  have  very  expressive  and  intelligent  faces,  and 
the  play  and  mobility  of  their  faces  and  voices  while  listening  to  the  music  were  extraordinarily 
iapid.  The  three  in  the  first  cage  at  once  rushed  up  into  their  box,  and  then  all  peeped  out, 
chattering  and  excited.  One  by  one  they  came  down,  and  listened  to  the  music  with  intense 
curiosity  shrieking  and  making  faces  at  a  crescendo,  shaking  the  wires  angrily  at  a  discord,  and 


Anschutx.} 


CHACMA    BABOON 

This  photograph  thoivs  hts  attitude  'when  about  to  make  an  attack 


[Birlin 


Pfutt  by  C.  Rtiil] 


A   YOUNG   MALE   CHACMA   BABOON 


[trishaw,  ft.  3. 


Note  the  protruding  tusk  in  the  upper  jaw.     A  baboon  utting  in  this  position  cf  rest  can  instantly  leap  six  or  seven  feet,  and  inflict  a. 

dangerous  b:t« 
21 


22 


THE     LIVING    ANIMALS    OF    THE    WORLD 


putting  their  heads  almost  upside-down  in 
efforts  at  acute  criticism  at  low  and  musical 
passages.  Every  change  of  note  was  marked 
by  some  alteration  of  expression  in  the  faces 
of  the  excited  little  monkeys,  and  a  series  of 
discordant  notes  roused  them  to  a  passion 
of  rage."  At  the  same  time  a  big  baboon, 
chained  up  near,  evidently  disliked  it.  He 
walked  off  in  the  opposite  direction  to  the 
farthest  limits  of  his  chain. 

THE  AMERICAN  MONKEYS 

Mention  of  the  Capuchins  takes  us  to 
the  whole  group  of  the  American  Monkeys. 
Nearly  all  of  these  live  in  the  tropical  forests 
of  Brazil,  Guiana,  Venezuela,  and  Mexico. 
They  are  all  different  from  the  Old  World 
monkeys,  and  many  are  far  more  beautiful. 
The  most  attractive  of  the  hardier  kinds  are 
the  Capuchins  ;  but  there  are  many  kinds  of 
rare  and  delicate  little  monkeys  more  beauti- 
ful than  any  squirrel,  which  would  make  the 
most  delightful  pets  in  the  world,  if  they  were 
not  so  delicate.  To  try  to  describe  the  Old 
World  monkeys  in  separate  groups  from  end 
to  end  is  rather  a  hopeless  task.  But  the 
American  monkeys  are  more  manageable  by 
the  puzzled  amateur.  Most  of  them  have  a 
broad  and  marked  division  between  the  nos- 

trils, which  are  not  mere  slits  close  together,  but  like  the  nostrils  of  men.  They  also  have 
human-looking  rounded  heads.  Their  noses  are  of  the  "  cogitative  "  order,  instead  of  being 

snouts  or  snubs  with  narrow 

openings  in  them  ;  and  the 

whole  face  is  in  many  ways 

human  and  intelligent.  The 

HOWLER  MONKEYS,  which 

utter     the     most    hideous 

sounds   ever  heard  in  the 

forests,    and     the     SPIDER 

MONKEYS   are   the  largest. 

The   latter  have  the  most 

wonderfully    developed 

limbs  and  tails  for  catching 

and  climbing  of  any  living 

animals.   As  highly  special- 

ised  creatures    are   always 

interesting,  visitors  to  any 

zoological  garden  will  find 

The    most  intelligent    of  the  comn.on  monkeys    jt    worth    while    to    WPfrV.    3 
of  America.      It    uses    many   sound*    to   express 

•ions,  and  ptrhafs    desiret  Spider      monkey      climbing, 


Photo  by  A.  S.  Rutland  <5r>  Sons'] 

HEAD    OF    MALE    MANDRILL 

This  is  one  of  the  most  hideous  of  living  animals.  The  natives  of 
West  Africa  hold  it  in  greater  dislike  even  than  the  large  carnivora, 
from  the  mischief  it  does  to  their  crops 


L.  Midland,  F.Z.S.,  N^h~nnM 
BROWN   CAPUCHIN 


Photo  bj  L.  Midland,  F.Z.S.,  North  FinMij 

DRILL 

Only  less  ugly  than  the  Mandrill.     Its  habits  art 
_     the  same 


APES,     MONKEYS,    AND    LEMURS 


Phatt  by  A.  S.   Rudland  (V  Soni 

RED    HOWLER    MONKEY 

The  male  possesses  a  most  extraordinary  voice 


just  as  it  is  always  worth  while  to  watch  a  great  snake 
on  the  move.  The  tail  is  used  as  a  fifth  hand:  the 
Indians  of  Brazil  say  they  catch  fish  with  it,  which  is 
not  true.  But  if  you  watch  a  spider  monkey  moving 
from  tree  to  tree,  his  limbs  and  tail  move  like  the  five 
fingers  of  a  star-fish.  Each  of  the  extremities  is  as 
sensitive  as  a  hand,  far  longer  in  proportion  than  an 
ordinary  man's  arm,  and  apparently  able  to  work  in- 
dependently of  joints.  The  monkey  can  do  so  many 
things  at  once  that  no  juggler  can  equal  it.  It  will 
hold  fruit  in  one  hand,  pick  more  with  one  foot,  place 
food  to  the  mouth  with  another  hand,  and  walk  and 
swing  from  branch  to  branch  with  the  other  foot  and 
tail,  all  simultaneously.  These  monkeys  have  no 
visible  thumb,  though  dissection  shows  that  they  have 
a  rudimentary  one  ;  but  the  limbs  are  so  flexible  that 
they  can  put  one  arm  round  behind  their  heads  over 
on  to  the  opposite  shoulder,  and  brush  the  fur  on  their  upper  arm.  The  end  of  the  tail  seems 
always  "  feeling  "  the  air  or  surroundings,  and  has  hairs,  thin  and  long,  at  the  end,  which  aid  it 
in  knowing  when  it  is  near  a  leaf  or  branch.  It  is  almost  like  the  tentacle  of  some  sea 
zoophyte.  Gentle  creatures,  all  of  them,  are  these  spider  monkeys.  One  of  them,  of  the  species 
called  WAITA,  when  kept  in  captivity,  wore  the  fur  off  its  forehead  by  rubbing  its  long  gaunt 
arms  continually  over  its  brow  whenever  it  was  scolded.  The  spider  monkeys  differ  only  in 
the  degree  of  spidery  slenderness  in  their  limbs.  In  disposition  they  are  always  amiable,  and  in 
habits  tree  climbers  and  fruit-eaters. 

The  CAPUCHINS  are,  in  the  writer's  opinion, 
the  nicest  of  all  monkeys.  Many  species  are 
known,  but  all  have  the  same  round  merry  faces, 
bright  eyes,  pretty  fur,  and  long  tails.  There  is 
always  a  fair  number  at  the  Zoological  Gardens. 
They  are  merry,  but  full  of  fads.  One  hates  chil- 
dren and  loves  ladies ;  another  adores  one  or  two 
other  monkeys,  and  screams  at  the  rest.  All  are 
fond  of  insects  as  well  as  of  fruit.  A  friend  of  the 
writer  kept  one  in  a  large  house  in  Leicestershire. 
It  was  not  very  good-tempered,  but  most  amusing, 
climbing  up  the  blind-cord  first,  and  catching  and 
eating  the  flies  on  the  window-panes  most  dexter- 
ously, always  avoiding  the  wasps.  This  monkey 
was  taught  to  put  out  a  lighted  paper  (a  useful 
accomplishment)  by  dashing  its  hands  on  to  the 
burning  part,  or,  if  the  paper  were  twisted  up,  by 
taking  the  unlighted  end  and  beating  the  burning 
part  on  the  ground  ;  and  it  was  very  fond  of  turning 
the  leaves  of  any  large  book.  This  it  did  not  only 
by  vigorous  use  of  both  arms  and  hands,  but  by 
putting  its  head  under  too,  and  "heaving"  the 
leaves  over. 


P halt  bf  A.  S.  Rudland  &•  Sim 

A    SPIDER    MONKEY 


In    the    private    room    behind    the    monkey-       Thil  mankey  it  specially  adapted  for  arboreal  life.    The  to* 


house  at  the  Zoo  there  are  always  a  number  of  the 


acts  as  a  fifth  hand 


THE    LIVING    ANIMALS    OF    THE    WORLD 


rare  and  delicate  monkeys  from  America, 
which  cannot  stand  the  draughts  of  the  outer 
house,  like  the  Capuchins  and  spider  monkeys. 
The  greater  number  of  these  come  from  tropical 
America.  There,  in  the  mighty  forests,  so  lofty 
that  no  man  can  climb  the  trees,  so  dense  that 
there  is  a  kind  of  upper  story  on  the  interlaced 
tree- tops,  where  nearly  all  the  birds  and  many 
mammals  live  without  descending  to  earth, 
forests  in  which  there  is  neither  summer  nor 
winter,  but  only  the  changes  from  hour  to  hour 
of  the  equatorial  day,  the  exquisite  MARMOSETS, 
whose  fur  looks  like  the  plumage  and  whose 
twittering  voices  imitate  the  notes  of  birds,  live 
and  have  their  being.  They  are  all  much  alike 
in  shape,  except  that  the  LION  MARMOSET'S 
mane  is  like  that  of  a  little  lion  clad  in  floss  silk ; 
and  they  all  have  sharp  little  claws,  and  feed 
on  insects.  The  PINCHE  MARMOSET  from  the 
Guiana  forests  has  a  face  like  a  black  Indian 
chief,  with  white  plumes  over  his  head  and  neck 
like  those  worn  by  a  "  brave  "  in  full  war-paint. 
Merchants  who  do'  business  with  Brazil  very 
frequently  import  marmosets  and  the  closely 


ptiotc  b)  Stholaitic  Photo.Co.]  [Parian"!  Gntn 

PATAS    MONKEY 

Found  in  West  Africa.      A  large  and  brilliantly  coloured  species 


allied  tamarins  as  presents  for  friends  at  home  in  England ; 
the  Brazilians  themselves  like  to  have  them  as  pets  also ;  so 
there  is  to  some  extent  a  trade  demand  for  them. 

Among  the  most  delicate  of  American  monkeys  are  the 
OUKARIS,  which  have  somewhat  human  faces,  exquisite  soft 
fur,  and  are  as  gentle  as  most  of  these  forest  creatures.  They 
seldom  live  long  in  captivity,  a  few  months  being  as  much  as 
they  will  generally  endure,  even  in  Brazil.  Perhaps  the  rarest 
of  all  is  the  white-haired  SCARLET-FACED  OUKARI.  This  monkey 
has  long  white  hair  from  neck  to  tail,  sandy  whiskers,  and  a 
bright  scarlet  face.  It  lives  in  a  district  of  partly  flooded  forest, 
and  is  only  obtained  by  the  Indians  using  blow-pipes  and 
arrows  dipped  in  very  diluted  urari  poison.  The  WHITE- 
HEADED  SAKI  is  a  rare  and  very  pretty  little  monkey  of  Brazil  ; 
and  there  are  a  very  large  number  of  other  species  of  this 
group  whose  names  it  would  be  mere  weariness  to  mention. 
All  these  small  monkeys  are  very  quick  and  intelligent,  while 
the  rapidity  of  their  movements,  their  ever-changing  expres- 
sion, and  sharp,  eager  cries  heighten  the  idea  of  cleverness 
given  by  their  general  appearance.  Other  little  imps  of  these 
forests  are  the  SQUIRREL  MONKEYS.  In  the  common  species 
the  face  is  like  a  little  furry  man's,  its  arms  brilliant  yellow  (as 
if  dipped  in  gamboge  dye),  the  cheeks  pink,  and  eyes  black. 
In  habits  it  is  a  quick-tempered,  imperious  little  creature, 
carnivorous,  and  a  great  devourer  of  butterflies  and  beetles. 


Photo  by  C.  Reid]  [lfishaw,  N.  B. 

WANDEROO    MONKEY 

The  number  of  monkeys  -which  ha-ve  leonine 
manes  is  large.      The  manes  act  as  capes  te  keep 


*  •*   f^1*-"1-   »-*<- v  wui  v_i    »Ji    L/ULLCI  llico   cHIU    UCCLlca.  ••»•«•••»•  •*••&-•  •,     .      ,, 

,    ,  the  dew  and -wet  from  their  chests  and  shoulder^ 

beautiful  and  entertaining  of  all  monkeys  are 


Phtto  by  A.  S.  Rutland  &  Sent 

COMMON    SQUIRREL    MONKEY 

The  squirrel  monkeys  have  soft,  bright-coloured  fur,  and  long,  hairy  tails.       They  are  found  from  Mexico  to  Paraguay 

4  25 


26 


THE    LIVING    ANIMALS    OF    THE    WORLD 


fhott  by  A,  S.  Rudland  <V  Soni 

BLACK-EARED    MARMOSET 

These  are  among  the  prettiest  of  small  tropical  monkeys  in  America  :  they  art 
insect-feeder •$,  and  "very  delicate 


these  New  World  species.  No  person 
clever  at  interpreting  the  ways  of  ani- 
mals would  fail  to  consider  them  far 
more  clever  and  sympathetic  than  the 
melancholy  anthropoid  apes,  while 
for  appearance  they  have  no  equals. 
Probably  the  most  attractive  monkey 
in  Europe  is  a  South  American  one 
now  in  the  London  Zoological  Gardens. 
It  was  first  mentioned  to  Europeans  by 
Baron  von  Humboldt,  who  saw  it  in  the 
cabin  of  an  Indian  on  the  Orinoco. 
These  forest  Indians  of  South  America 
are  gentle  creatures  themselves.  Among 
other  amiable  qualities,  they  have  a 
passion  for  keeping  pets.  One  who 
worked  for  a  friend  of  the  writer,  with 
others  of  his  tribe,  was  asked  what  he 
would  take  in  payment,  which  was  given  in  kind.  The  others  chose  cloth,  axes,  etc.  This 
Indian  said  that  he  did  not  care  for  any  of  these  things.  He  said  he  wanted  a  "  poosa."  No 
one  knew  what  he  meant.  He  signed  that  he  wished  to  go  to  the  house  and  would  show  them. 
Arrived  there,  he  pointed  to  the  cat !  "  Pussy,"  to  the  Arawak  Indian,  was  a  "  poosa,"  and  that 
was  what  he  wanted  as  a  month's  wages.  Humboldt's  Indian  had  something  better  than  a 
"  poosa."  It  was  a  monkey,  as  black  as  coal,  with  a  round  head,  long  thickly  furred  tail,  and 
bright  vivacious  eyes.  The  explorer  called  it  the  LAGOTHRIX,  which  means  Hare-skin  Monkey. 
The  fur  is  not  the  least  like  a  hare's,  but  much  resembles  that  of  an  opossum.  The  more  suitable 
name  is  the  WOOLLY  MONKEY.  The  one  kept  at  the  Gardens  is  a  most  friendly  and  vivacious 
creature,  ready  to  embrace,  play  and  make  friends  with  any  well-dressed  person.  It  dislikes 
people  in  working-clothes  which  are  dirty  or  soiled — a  not  uncommon  aversion  of  clever  animals. 

In  spite  of  all  the  vari- 
eties of  temperament  in  the 
monkey  tribe,  from  the  genial 
little  Capuchins  to  the  morose 
old  baboon,  they  nearly  all 
have  one  thing  in  common — 
that  is,  the  monkey  brain. 
The  same  curious  restlessness, 
levity,  and  want  of  concentra- 
tion mark  them  all,  except  the 
large  anthropoid  apes.  Some 
of  these  have  without  doubt 
powers  of  reflection  and  con- 
centration which  the  other 
monkeys  do  not  possess.  But 
in  all  the  rest,  though  the 
capacity  for  understanding 
exists,  the  wish  to  please,  as 
a  dog  does,  and  the  desire 
to  remember  and  to  retain 
what  it  has  learnt,  seem 


Photo  h]  L.  Midland,  F.Z.  S.] 


[North  Finchley 


UMBOLDT'S   WOOLLY   MONKEY 

This  is  the  most  popular  monkey  in  captivity.     He  looks  for  all  the  -world  like  a  Ne*ro   and  has 
>ut,fult  soft,  -woolly  coat.     He  is  very  tame,  and  love*  nothing  better  than  being  petted 


APES,    MONKEYS,    AND    LEMURS 


almost  entirely  wanting.  Egoism,  which  is  a  sign  of  humam  dementia,  is  a  very  leading 
characteristic  of  all  monkeys.  There  is  no  doubt  that  the  baboons  might  be  trained  to  be 
useful  animals  if  they  always  served  one  master.  Le  Vaillant  and  many  other  travelers  have 
noted  this.  But  they  are  too  clever,  and  at  the  bottom  too  ill-tempered  ever  to  be  trust- 
worthy, even  regarded  as  "  watches,"  or  to  help  in  minor  manual  labour.  Baboons  would 
make  an  excellent  substitute  for  dogs  as  used  in  Belgium  for  light  draught;  but  no  one 
could  ever  rely  on  their  behaving  themselves  when  their  master's  eye  was  elsewhere. 

Taken  as  a  family,  the  monkeys  are  a  feeble  and  by  no  means  likeabls  race.     They  are 
"  undeveloped "  as  a  class,  full  of  promise,  but  with  no  performance. 


THE    LEMURS 


THE   South   American   monkeys,   with   their 
forms  and  fur,  are  followed  by  a  beautiful  and 
of  creatures,   called   the   LEMURS,   with   their 
Maholis,  and  Pottos.     Their  resemblance  to 
their  hands  and  feet.      These  are  real  and 
hands,  with  proper  thumbs.     The  second 
always   terminates    in   a   long,   sharp 
alist,  who  kept  them  as  pets  no- 
themselves  with.     Some  of  them 
sensitive    disk,    full    of   extra 
"  Unlike  the  lively  squirrels 
hiding-places  till  the  tropical 
when     they    seek     their 
but  by   ascending  to  the 
and  again,  at  the  first  ap- 
the  light  in  the  recesses 
The  RING-TAILED  LEMUR 
most  of  the  race  are  so 
the  light  seems  to 
they  turn   over 
same  inarticu- 
But    at   night 
they  fly  from 
so     that     the 
whether    they 


Photo  by  Ottomar  dnschutx]  \_3irltn 

PIG-TAILED    MONKEY   CATCHING   A    FLY 

Most  of  the  smaller  monkeys,  as  ivell  as  the  baboons,  are  fond  of  eating 
insects.    Beetles^  white  ants,  and  flies  are  eagerly  sought  and  de-voured 


squirrel-like 
*•  interesting  group 
cousins  the  Lorises. 
monkeys    is  mainly  in 
very     highly     developed 
toe  on  the  hind  foot  nearly 
claw.      "  Elia,"  the  Indian  natur- 
ticed   that  they  used  this  to  scratch 
have  the  finger-tips  expanded  into  a 
nerves.         Lemur     means     "  ghost." 
and  monkeys,  they  do  not  leave  their 
darkness    has    fallen    on   the    forest, 
food,  not  by  descending  to  the  ground, 
upper  surface  of  the  ocean  of  trees, 
proach  of  dawn,  seek  refuge  from 
of  some  dark  and  hollow  trunk, 
is  as  lively  by  day  as  night ;  but 
entirely  creatures  of  darkness  that 
stupefy  them.     When  wakened, 
like   sleeping  children,  with   the 
late  cries  and  deep,  uneasy  sighs, 
most   are    astonishingly  active; 
tree  to  tree,  heard,  but  invisible ; 
natives     of    Madagascar    doubt 
are  not  true  lemures,  the  unquiet 
departed  dead. 


ghosts  of  their 

Though  the  lemurs  are  here  treated  apart  from  the  other  animals  of  Madagascar,  it  will  be 
obvious  that  they  are  a  curious  and  abnormal  tribe.  This  is  true  of  most  of  the  animals  of  that 
great  island,  which  has  a  fauna  differing  both  from  that  of  the  adjacent  coast  of  Africa  and  from 
that  of  India  or  Australia.  In  the  FOSSA,  a  large  representative  of  the  Civets,  it  possesses  a 
species  absolutely  unlike  any  other.  The  Aye-aye  is  also  an  abnormal  creature.  Nor  must  it 
be  forgotten  that  Madagascar  was  until  recently  the  home  of  some  of  the  gigantic  ground-living 
birds.  But,  after  all,  none  of  its  inhabitants  are  more  remarkable  than  its  hosts  of  lemurs,  some 
of  which  are  to  be  met  with  in  almost  every  coppice  in  the  island.  There  are  also  many  extinct 
kinds. 

Exquisite  fur,  soft  and  beautifully  tinted,  eyes  of  extraordinary  size  and  colour  (for  the  pupil 
shuts  up  to  a  mere  black  line  by  day,  and  the  rest  of  the  eye  shows  like  a  polished  stone  of  rich 
brown  or  yellow  or  marble  gray),  are  the  marks  of  most  of  the  lemurs.  But  there  are  other 
lemur-like  creatures,  or  "  lemuroids,"  which,  though  endowed  with  the  same  lovely  fur,  like 


28 


THE    LIVING    ANIMALS    OF    THE    WORLD 


Phot,  b,  L.  Midland,  F.Z.S.]  [North  FinMiy 

RING-TAILED    LEMUR 

This  lemur  is  often  keft  as  a  domestic  animal,  and  allo-wed  to  run  about  the 
house  like  a  cat 


softest  moss,  have  no  tails.  The  strangest 
of  all  are  two  creatures  called  the  SLENDER 
LORIS  and  the  SLOW  LORIS.  The  slender 
loris,  which  has  the  ordinary  furry  coat  of 
the  lemurs,  and  no  tail,  moves  on  the 
branches  exactly  as  does  a  chameleon. 
Each  hand  or  foot  is  slowly  raised,  brought 
forward,  and  set  down  again.  The  fingers 
then  as  slowly  close  on  the  branch  till  its 
grasp  is  secure.  It  is  like  a  slow-working 
mechanical  toy.  Probably  this  is  a  habit, 
now  instinctive,  gained  by  ages  of  cautiously 
approaching  insects.  But  the  result  is  to 
give  the  impression  that  the  creature  is 
almost  an  automaton. 

Madagascar  is  the  main  home  of  the 
lemurs,  though  some  of  the  related  animals 
are  also  found  in  Africa  and  in  the  East 
Indies.  But  the  dense  forests  of  the  great 

island  are  full  of  these  curious  nocturnal  beasts,  of  which  there  are  so  many  varieties  presenting 
very  slight  differences  of  form  and  habit,  that  naturalists  have  some  difficulty  in  giving  even  a 
complete  list  of  their  species.  Add  to  this  that  nearly  all  of  them  are  intensely  and  entirely 
nocturnal,  and  the  scarcity  of  data  as  to  their  habits  is  easily  accounted  for.  When  seen  by  us, 
their  faces  all  lack  expression — that  is  to  say,  the  eyes,  which  mainly  give  expression,  seem 
entirely  vacant  and  meaningless.  But  this  is  due  to  their  special  adaptation  to  seeing  in  the  dark 
tropical  night.  By  day  the  pupil  of  the  eye  almost  disappears.  If  only  we  could  also  see  in 
the  dark,  the  eyes  of  the  lemur  might  have  as  much  expression  as  those  of  a  faithful  dog.  The 
change  which  night  makes  in  their  general  demeanour  is  simply  miraculous.  By  day  many  of 
them  are  like  hibernating  animals,  almost  incapable  of  movement.  When  once  the  curtain  of 
night  has  fallen,  they  are  as  active  as  squirrels,  and  as  full  of  play  as  a  family  of  kittens.  The 
RING-TAILED  LEMUR  is  often  kept  as  a  pet,  both  in  Madagascar  and  in  the  Mauritius.  It  is 
one  of  the  very  few  which  are  diurnal  in  their  habits.  When  in  a  hurry  it  jumps  along,  standing 
on  its  hind  feet,  like  a  little  kangaroo,  but  holding  its  tail  upright  behind  its  back.  It  will 
follow  people  up-stairs  in  this  way,  jumping  from  step  to  step, 
with  its  front  paws  outstretched,  as  if  it  were  addressing  an 
audience.  The  French  call  these  day  lemurs  MAKIS.  The 
ring-tailed  lemur  lives  largely  among  rocks  and  precipices. 
Most  of  these  creatures  live  upon  fruit,  the  shoots  and  leaves 
of  trees,  and  other  vegetable  food.  But,  like  the  squirrel,  they 
have  no  objection  to  eggs  and  nestlings,  and  also  kill  and  eat 
any  small  birds  and  insects.  Some  of  the  smaller  kinds  are 
almost  entirely  insect-feeders.  The  largest  kind  of  lemur 
belongs  to  the  group  known  as  the  INDRIS.  The  BLACK-AND- 
WHITE  INDRI  measures  about  two  feet  in  length.  It  has  only  a 
rudimentary  tail,  large  ears,  and  a  sharp-pointed  nose.  The 
amount  of  white  colouring  varies  much  in  different  individ- 
uals. This  variation  in  colouring — a  very  rare  feature  among 
wild  mammalia,  though  one  of  the  first  changes  shown  when 
animals  are  domesticated — is  also  found  in  the  next  three 
species,  called  SIFAKAS.  The  DIADEMED  SIFAKA,  the  WOOLLY 


Photo  by  L.  Midland,  F.Z.S.,  North  Finchli) 

A    DWARF   LEMUR 

These  tiny  animals  take  the  flace  of  the  dor- 
mouse in  Madagascar 


APES,    MONKEYS,    AND     LEMURS 


29 


INDRI,  and  the  BLACK  INDRI  all  belong  to  this  group. 

The  SIFAKAS,  as  some  of  these  and  the  allied  forms 

are  called,  are  venerated  by  the  Malagasys,  who  never 

kill    one    intentionally.      Mr.    Foster   observes  that 

"  they   live   in   companies   of  six  or  eight,  and  are 

very  gentle  and  inoffensive  animals,  wearing  a  very 

melancholy  expression,  and  being  as  a  rule  morose, 

inactive,    and    more    silent   than    the    other  lemurs. 

They  rarely  live  long  in  captivity.     In  their  native 

state  they  are  most  alert  in  the  morning  and  evening, 

as  during  the  day  they  conceal  themselves  under  the 

foliage  of  trees.     When  asleep  or  in  repose,  the  head 

is   dropped   on   the  chest  and  buried  between  the 

arms,  the  tail  rolled  up  on  itself  and  disposed  between 

the  hind  legs.     The  sifakas  live  exclusively  on  vege- 
table substances,  fruits,  leaves,  and  flowers,  their  diet 

not  be- 
ing varied,  as  in  the  other  lemurs,  by  small  birds, 
eggs,  or  insects.  Their  life  is  almost  entirely 
arboreal,  for  which  the  muscles  of  their  hands  and 
feet,  as  well  as  the  parachute-like  folds  between 
their  arms  and  bodies,  and  their  peculiar  hooked 
fingers,  are  well  fitted.  The  young  one  is  carried 
by  the  mother  on  its  back,  its  hands  grasping  her 
armpits  tightly." 

This  is  not  the  universal  way  of  carrying  the 
young  among  lemurs.  The  CROWNED  LEMUR,  a 
beautiful  gray-and-white  species,  often  breeds  at 
the  Zoo.  The  female  carries  its  young  one 
partly  on  its  side.  The  infant  clings  tightly  with 
arms  and  tail  round  the  very  slender  waist  of  the 


Photo  by  L.  Midland,  F.Z  S.]  [North  Finchltj 

BLACK    LEMUR 

Found  on  the  coast  of  Madagascar 


Photo  by  L.   Midland,  F.Z.S.,  North  Finchliy 

COQUEREL'S    LEMUR 

A  lemur  'which  strongly  objects  to  being  awakened  in  the  day- 


lemur,  and  pushes  out  its  sharp 
little  face  just  above  the  thigh 
of  the  mother.  The  WOOLLY 
INDRI  has  more  woolly  fur  than 
the  others  of  its  tribe,  a  shorter 
nose,  and  a  longer  tail. 

THE  TRUE  LEMURS 

Of  these  there  are  several 
species,  all  confined  to  Mada- 
gascar and  the  Comoro  Islands. 
One  of  the  best  known  is  the 
RING-TAILED  LEMUR,  mentioned 
above.  It  is  called  LEMUR  CATTA, 
the  Cat  Lemur,  from  being  so 
often  kept  in  domestication.  The 
WEASEL  LEMUR,  the  GRAY  LEMUR, 
the  MOUSE  LEMUR,  the  GENTLE 
LEMUR,  the  SPORTIVE  LEMUR,  the 


Photo  by  L.  Midland,  F.Z.S.]  [North   FinchUj 

RUFFED    LEMUR 

Another  of  the  nocturnal  lemur i.      It  li-ves  mainly  on  fruit  and  insects 


3° 


THE    LIVING    ANIMALS    OF    THE    WORLD 


Photo  by  L.  Midland,  F.Z.S~\  [North  finMty 

GARNETT'S    GALAGO 

One  of  the  squirrel-like  temuroids 


CROWNED  LEMUR,  and  COQUEREL'S  LEMUR,  all 
represent  various  small,  pretty,  and  interesting 
varieties  of  the  group.  The  BLACK-AND-WHITE 
LEMUR,  one  of  the  larger  kinds,  is  capable  of 
domestication.  A  specimen  kept  in  a  London 
house,  where  the  present  writer  saw  it,  was  always 
called  "  Pussy  "  by  the  children.  The  other  small 
kinds  are  very  like  squirrels,  mice,  weasels,  and 
other  creatures,  with  which  they  have  no  connec- 

and  primitive  fauna  of  Madagascar  tried  to  make 
up  for  its  want  of  variety  by  mimicking  the 
forms  of  other  animals,  and  something  of  the 
same  kind  is  seen  in  Australia,  where  the  mar- 
supials take  the  place  of  all  kinds  of  ordinary  mammals.  There  are  marsupial  rats,  marsupial 
wolves,  marsupial  squirrels,  and  even  marsupial  moles.  The  small  squirrel  and  rat-like  lemurs 
are  calleu  CHIROGALES.  COQUEREL'S  LEMUR  is  really  a  chirogale.  It  is  a  quaint  and  by  no 
means  amiable  little  animal,  sleeping  obstinately  all  day,  and  always  i  ready  to  growl  and  bite 
if  disturbed.  Its  colour  is  brownish  gray  and  cream-colour.  A  pair  of  these,  rolled  up  tightly 
into  balls  in  a  box  of  hay,  will  absolutely  refuse  to  move,  even  when  handled.  They  only 
feed  by  night. 

THE  GALAGOS 

An  allied  group,  confined  to  tropical  Africa,  is  that  of  the  GALAGOS.  They  are  most  beau- 
tiful little  creatures,  whose  nearest  relatives  are  the  Malagasy  lemurs.  Generally  speaking,  they 
have  even  more  exquisite  fur  than  the  lemurs.  It  is  almost  as  soft  as  floss  silk,  and  so  close  that 
the  hand  sinks  into  it  as  into  a  bed  of  moss.  The  colour  of  the  fur  is  rich  and  pleasing,  gener- 
ally some  shade  of  brown.  The  head  is  small,  the  nose  pointed,  and  the  ears  thin,  hairless,  and 
capable  of  being  folded  up,  like  the  wings  of  a  beetle.  But  the  most  beautiful  feature  of  the  gal- 
agos  is  their  eyes.  These  are  of  immense  size,  compared  with  the  head.  The  eye  is  of  the 
richest  and  most  beautiful  brown,  like  a  cairngorm  stone,  but  not  glassy  or  clear.  Though  quite 
translucent,  the  eye  is  marked  with  minute  dividing-lines,  like  the  grain  in  an  agate — a  truly 
exquisite  object.  When  handled  or  taken  in  the  arms,  the  little  galago  clasps  the  fingers  or 
sleeve  tightly,  as  if  it  thought  it  was  holding 
a  tree,  and  shows  no  disposition  to  escape.  A 
family  of  three  or  four  young  ones,  no  larger 
than  mice,  with  their  large-eyed  mother  attend- 
ing to  them,  forms  an  exquisitely  dainty  little 
group.  The  galagos  vary  from  the  size  of  a 
squirrel  to  that  of  a  small  cat.  The  kind  most 
often  seen  in  England  is  the  MAHOLI  GALAGO 
from  East  Africa.  Another  species  comes 
from  Senegal,  and  others  from  Calabar  and  the 
forests  of  the  Gold  Coast.  GARNETT'S  GALAGO, 
another  species,  is  shown  above.  They  may 
be  regarded  as  nocturnal  tropical  lemuroids, 
analogous  to  the  chirogales  of  Madagascar.  It 
has  been  suggested,  with  great  probability,  that 
the  intensely  drowsy  sleep  of  many  of  the 
lemuroid  animals  corresponds  to  the  hiberna- 


r 


Photo  by  L.  Midland,  F.Z.S~\  [North  FinMey 

MAHOLI    GALAGO 

This  little  animal  is  a  native  of  East  Africa.     It  has  -very  large  eyes, 
and  fur  as  soft  as  the  chinchilla's 


APES,    MONKEYS,    AND    LEMURS 


31 


Phttt  bj  L.  Midland,  F.Z  S.]  [Ntrth  FtnMq 

SLENDER    LORIS 

Thh  extraordinary  creature  has  the  habits  of  a  chameleon  when 
iteking  insects  for  food.      The  f  holograph  ii  unique 


tion  of  many  northern  mammals.  Tropical  animals 
often  become  torpid  to  avoid  the  famine  caused  by 
the  hot  season,  just  as  creatures  in  cold  countries 
hibernate  to  avoid  the  hunger  which  would  otherwise 
come  with  winter. 

THE  SLOW  LEMURS  OR  LORISES,  AND  TARSIERS 

Another  group  of  lemuroids  is  distinguished  from 
the  foregoing  by  having  the  second  finger  of  the  fore 
paws  either  very  short  or  rudimentary.  The  thumb 
and  great  toe  are  also  set  very  widely  apart  from  the 
other  fingers  and  toes.  A  far  more  striking  distinc- 
tion to  the  non-scientific  eye  is  their  astonishingly 
deliberate  and  slow  movements.  They  have  no  tails, 
enormous  eyes,  and  very  long,  slender  legs. 

The  SLOW  LORIS  is  found  in  Eastern  India  and 
the  Malay  countries,  where  it  is  fairly  common  in  the 
forests.  The  Bengali  natives  call  it  sharmindi  billi 
("  bashful  cat "),  from  its  slow,  solemn,  hesitating 
movements  when  in  pursuit  of  insects.  Of  a  slow 
loris  kept  by  him,  Sir  William  Jones,  in  the  "  Asiatic 
Researches,"  wrote :  "  At  all  times  he  seemed 
pleased  at  being  stroked  on  the  head  and  throat,  and  he  frequently  allowed  me  to  touch  his 
extremely  sharp  teeth.  But  his  temper  was  always  quick,  and  when  he  was  unseasonably 
disturbed  he  expressed  a  little  resentment,  by  an  obscure  murmur,  like  that  of  a  squirrel.  .  .  . 
When  a  grasshopper  or  any  insect  alighted  within  his  reach,  his  eyes,  as  he  fixed  them  on  his 
prey,  glowed  with  uncommon  fire  ;  and  having  drawn  himself  back  to  spring  on  his  prey  with 
greater  force,  he  seized  it  with  both  his  fore  paws,  and  held  it  till  he  had  devoured  it.  He  never 
could  have  enough  grasshoppers,  and  spent  the  whole  night  in  prowling  for" them." 

The    SLENDER    LORIS,    an    equally    curious    creature,   is    only    found    in    Southern    India 
and    Ceylon.       Its    food    consists    entirely   of    insects,   which    it   captures    by   gradual,   almost 
paralysed    approach.      Its    has    been    described    as   a   "  furry-coated    chameleon."      A    group 
of  slow   lemurs,  living  in  Western   Africa,  are  known  as  POTTOS.     They  are  odd  little  quad- 
rupeds, in    which    the  "  forefinger "  never 
grows    to    be    more   than    a    stump.     The 
tail   is    also    either  sharp  or  rudimentary. 
They   are   as  slow  as  the   lorises  in  their 
movements. 

In  the  Malay  islands  a  distant  rela- 
tive, even  more  curiously  formed,  is  found 
in  the  TAKSIER.  It  has  the  huge  eyes, 
pointed  ears,  and  beautiful  fur  of  the 
galagos,  but  the  tail  is  long,  thin  and 
tufted.  The  fingers  are  flattened  out  into 
disks,  like  a  tree-frog's.  These  creatures 
hop  from  bough  to  bough  in  a  frog-like 
manner  in  search  of  insects.  They  are 
not  so  large  as  a  good-sized  rat.  Our 
photograph  does  not  give  an  adequate 


, 


[North  finMt, 


idea  of  the  size  of  the  eyes. 


Pheto  b,  L.  Midland,  F.Z.S.] 

SLOW    LORIS 

Another  of  the  slow-moving  loris  group.      These  animals  are  not  shown  to  tOe 
general  public  at  the  Zoo,  but  kepi  in  a  specially  "warmed  room 


THE    LIVING    ANIMALS    OF    THE    WORLD 


J'hoti  by  A.  S.  Rudland  &  Sam 

TARSIER 

These  little  animals  hop  about  in  the  trees  like  frogs 

seen 


They  are  nocturnal,  and  seldom 


THE  AYE-AYE 

Last,  and  most  remarkable  of 
all  these  weird  lemuroids,  is  the 
AYE-AYE.  It  is  placed  in  a  group 
by  itself,  and  has  teeth  like 
those  of  the  Rodents,  a  large 
bushy  tail,  and  most  extra- 
ordinarily long,  slender  fingers, 
which  it  probably  uses  for  pick- 
ing caterpillars  and  grubs  out  of 
rotten  wood.  It  is  nearly  as  large 
as  an  Arctic  fox,  but  its  habits 
are  those  of  a  lemur.  In  Mada- 
gascar it  haunts  the  bamboo 
forests,  feeding  on  the  juice  of 
sugar-cane,  grubs,  and  insects. 
The  fingers  of  its  hands  are  of 
different  sizes  and  lengths,  though 
all  are  abnormally  long  and  slender. 
The  second  finger  seems  to  have 
"  wasted,"  but  is  said  to  be  of  the 
utmost  value  to  its  owner  in  ex- 
tracting grubs  and  insects  from  the  burrows  in  which  they  dwell,  or  the  crannies  in  which  they 
may  have  taken  refuge.  Very  seldom  is  this  animal  seen  alive  in  captivity.  Although  com- 
monly called  Aye-aye  in  this  country,  it  is  doubtful  if  this  is  really  its  native  name.  The  aye- 
aye  was  long  a  puzzle  to  naturalists,  but  is  now  classed  as  a  lemuroid. 

THE  living  races  of  animals  have  thus  far  been  reviewed  along  the  completed  list  of  the  first 
great  order — the  Primates.  Even  in  that  circumscribed  group  how  great  is  the  tendency  to 
depart  from  the  main  type,  and  how  wonderful  the  adaptation  to  meet  the  various  needs  of  the 
creatures'  environment !  The  skeletons,  the  frames  on  which 
these  various  beings  are  built  up,  remain  the  same  in  character; 
but  the  differences  of  proportion  in  the  limbs,  of  the  muscles 
with  which  they  are  equipped,  and  of  the  weight  of  the  bodies  to 
be  moved  are  astonishing.  Compare,  for  instance,  the  head  of  the 
male  Gorilla,  with  its  great  ridges  of  bone,  to  which  are  attached 
the  muscles  which  enable  it  to  devour  hard  tropical  fruits  and 
bite  off  young  saplings  and  bamboos,  with  the  rounded  and 
delicate  head  of  the  Insect-eating  Monkeys  of  South  Africa ;  or 
set  side  by  side  the  hand  of  the  Chimpanzee  with  that  of  the  Aye- 
aye,  with  its  delicate,  slender  fingers,  like  those  of  a  skeleton 
hand.  What  could  be  more  diverse  than  the  movements  of  these 
creatures,  whose  structure  is  nevertheless  so  much  alike  ?  Some  of 
the  lemuroids  are  as  active  as  squirrels,  flying  lightly  from  branch 
to  branch  ;  in  others,  as  the  Slow  Lorises,  the  power  of  rapid  move- 
ment has  disappeared,  and  been  replaced  by  a  creeping  gait  which 
cannot  be  accelerated.  Already,  in  a  single  order,  we  see  the  rich 
diversity  of  nature,  and  its  steady  tendency  to  make  all  existing 
things  serviceable  by  adapting  other  parts  of  creation  to  their  use 
or  enjoyment. 


Photo  by  L.  Midland,  F.Z.S.,  N.  FinMtf 

HEAD    OF    AYE-AYE 

The  aye-aye  lives  mainly  in  the  wild 


AFRICAN     LION    AND    LIONESS. 
These  animals  are  so  num.™.  ta  East  Africa  that  t.,ey  .re  exempt,,!  from  P™« 


FHmo  b)  bra 


[FItrtnit 


AFRICAN    LION 
Thit  lion  if  a/most  in  the  attitude  of  those  sculptured  by  Sir  Ediuin  Landseer  for  the  Nelion  Monument,  but  the  Jeet  art  turned  in,  not  lying  Jiat 

CHAPTER    II 


T 


THE    CAr  TRIBE 

HOUGH  only  one  species  is  entirely  domesticated,  and  none  of  the  Cats  have  flesh  edible 
by  man,  except  perhaps  the  puma,  no  group  of  animals  has  attracted  more  interest  than 
this.  Containing  more  than  forty  species,  ranging  in  size  from  the  ox-devouring  tiger  or 

lion  to  the  small  wild  cats,  they  are  so  alike  in  habit  and  struc- 
ture that  no  one  could  possibly  mistake  the  type  or  go  far 
wrong  in  guessing  at  the  habits  of  any  one  of  them.  They  are 
all  flesh-eaters  and  destroyers  of  living  animals.  All  have 
rounded  heads,  and  an  extraordinary  equipment  of  teeth  and  of 
claws,  and  of  muscles  to  use  them.  The  blow  of  the  forearm 
of  a  lion  or  tiger  is  inconceivably  powerful,  in  proportion  to  its 
size.  A  stroke  from  a  tiger's  paw  has  been  known  to  strike 
off  a  native's  arm  from  the  shoulder  and  leave  it  hanging  by  a 
piece  of  skin,  and  a  similar  blow  from  a  lion  to  crush  the 
skull  of  an  ox.  The  true  cats  are  known  by  the  power  to 
draw  back,  or  "  retract,"  their  claws  into  sheaths  of  horn, 
rendering  their  footsteps  noiseless,  and  keeping  these  weapons 
always  sharp.  The  hunting-leopard  has  only  a  partial  capacity 
for  doing  this. 

The  characteristics  of  the  Cats  and  their  allies  are  too  well 
known  to  need  description.  We  will  therefore  only  mention 
the  chief  types  of  the  group,  and  proceed  to  give,  in  the  fullest 
detail  which  space  allows,  authentic  anecdotes  of  their  life  and 
habits.  The  tribe  includes  Lions,  Tigers,  Leopards,  Pumas, 
Jaguars,  a  large  number  of  so-called  Tiger-cats  (spotted  and 
striped),  Wild  Cats,  Domestic  Cats,  and  Lynxes.  The 
Hunting-leopard,  or  Cheeta,  stands  in  a  sub-group  by  itself, 
as  does  the  Fossa,  the  only  large  carnivore  of  Madagascar. 
33 


Bj  ftrminian  of  Hirr  Carl  Hagtnbtik,  Hamburg 

AN    UNWILLING   PUPIL 

This  is  one  of  Herr  Hagenbeck's  famous  perform- 
ing tigers 


THE     LIVING    ANIMALS    OF    THE    WORLD 


This  closes  the  list  of  the  most  cat-like 
animals.  The  next  links  in  the  chain 
are  formed  by  the  Civets  and  Genets, 
creatures  with  more  or  less  retractile 
claws,  and  long,  bushy  tails ;  the  still 
less  cat-like  Binturong,  a  creature  with 
a  prehensile  tail;  and  the  Mongooses 
and  Ichneumons,  more  and  more  nearly 
resembling  the  weasel  tribe. 

THE   LION 

RECENT  intrusions  for  railways, 
sport,  discovery,  and  war  into  Central 
and  East  Africa  have  opened  up  new 
lion  countries,  and  confirmed,  in  the  most 
striking  manner,  the  stories  of  the  power, 
the  prowess,  and  the  dreadful  destruc- 
tiveness  to  man  and  beast  of  this  king 
of  the  Carnivora.  At  present  it  is  found 
in  Persia,  on  the  same  rivers  where 
Nimrod  and  the  Assyrian  kings  made  its 
pursuit  their  royal  sport;  in  Gujerat, 
where  it  is  nearly  extinct,  though  in 
General  Price's  work  on  Indian  game 
written  before  the  middle  of  the  last 
century  it  is  stated  that  a  cavalry  officer 

killed  eighty  lions  in  three  years ;  and  in  Africa,  from  Algeria  to  the  Bechuana  country.  It 
is  especially  common  in  Somaliland,  where  the  modern  lion-hunter  mainly  seeks  his  sport. 
On  the  Uganda  Railway,  from  Mombasa  to  Lake  Victoria,  lions  are  very  numerous  and 
dangerous.  In  Rhodesia  and  the  Northern  Transvaal  they  have  killed  hunters,  railway  officials, 
and  even  our  soldiers  near  Komati  Poort.  It  has  been  found  that  whole  tracts  of  country  are 
still  often  deserted  by  their  inhabitants  from  fear  of  lions,  and  that  the  accounts  of  their  ravages 
contained  in  the  Old  Testament,  telling  how  Samaria  was  almost  deserted  a  second  time  from 
this  cause,  might  be  paralleled  to-day. 

THE  AFRICAN  LION 

BY   F.  C.  SELOUS 

When,  in  the  latter  half  of  the  seventeenth  century,  Europeans  first  settled  at  the  Cape 
of  Good  Hope,  the  lion's  roar  was  probably  to  be  heard  almost  nightly  on  the  slopes  of  Table 
Mountain,  since  a  quaint  entry  in  the  Diary  of  Van  Riebeck,  the  first  Dutch  governor  of  the 
Cape,  runs  thus  :  "  This  night  the  lions  roared  as  if  they  would  take  the  fort  by  storm  " — the  said 
fort  being  situated  on  the  site  of  the  city  now  known  as  Cape  Town. 

At  that  date  there  can  be  little  doubt  that,  excepting  in  the  waterless  deserts  and  the  dense 
equatorial  forests,  lions  roamed  over  the  whole  of  the  vast  continent  of  Africa  from  Cape  Agulhas 
to  the  very  shore  of  the  Mediterranean  Sea ;  nor  was  their  range  very  seriously  curtailed  until 
the  spread  of  European  settlements  in  North  and  South  Africa,  and  the  acquisition  of  firearms 
by  the  aboriginal  inhabitants  of  many  parts  of  the  country,  during  the  latter  half  of  the  nineteenth 
century,  steadily  denuded  large  areas  of  all  wild  game. 

As  the  game  vanished,  the  lions  disappeared  too ;  for  although  at  first  they  preyed  to  a 
large  extent  en  the  domestic  flocks  and  herds  which  gradually  replaced  the  wild  denizens  of  the 


Photo  by  rork  &>  Son]  [Netting  Hill 

LIONESS    AROUSED 

The  post  of  the  animal  here  shows  attention,  but  not  anger  or  fear 


'*AT 


ALGERIAN    LIONESS 

This  lioness,  sitting  under  an  olive-tree^  -was  actually  photographed  in  the  Soudan  by  the  intrepid  M,  Geiser 


THE    LIVING    ANIMALS    OF    THE    WORLD 


once-uninhabited  plains,  this  practice 
brought  them  into  conflict  with  the  white 
colonists  or  native  herdsmen  armed  with 
weapons  of  precision,  before  whom  they 
rapidly  succumbed. 

To-day  lions  are  still  to  be  found 
wherever  game  exists  in  any  quantity,  and 
their  numbers  will  be  in  proportion  to  those 
of  the  wild  animals  on  which  they  prey. 

The  indefinite  increase  of  lions  must 
be  checked  by  some  unknown  law  of 
nature,  otherwise  they  would  have  be- 


A    FOSTER-MOTHER 

This  is  a  remarkable  photograph  of  a  setter  suckling  three  lion  cubs  -which 
had  lost  their  mother.  It  is  reproduced  here  by  permission  of  the  Editor 
of  the  Irish  Field 

come  so  numerous  in  the  sparsely  inhabited  or 
altogether  uninhabited  parts  of  Africa,  that  they 
would  first  have  exterminated  all  the  game  on 
which  they  had  been  wont  to  prey,  and  would 
then  have  had  to  starve  or  to  have  eaten  one 
another.  But  such  a  state  of  things  has  never  been 
known  to  occur;  and  whenever  Europeans  have 
entered  a  previously  unexplored  and  uninhabited 
tract  of  country  in  Africa,  and  have  found  it 
teeming  with  buffaloes,  zebras,  and  antelopes, 
they  have  always  found  lions  in  such  districts 
very  plentiful  indeed,  but  never  in  such  numbers 
as  to  seriously  diminish  the  abundance  of  the 
game  upon  which  they  depended  for  food. 


[Abtrdun 


Mot*  by  G.  If.  Wilson  <5r>  Co.,  Ltd.] 

LIONESS    AND    CUB 

Lion  cuts  thri-ve  both  in  Dublin  and  Amsterdam,  but  not  to  well  at  the  London  Zoo 


By  permission  of  Htrr  Carl  Hagtnbeck~\  [Hamburg 

A    PERFORMING   LION 

Lions,  it  would  seem,  are  capable  of  being  taught  almost  anything, 
even  tricycle-riding 


It  is  easy  to  understand 
that  the  increase  of  a  herd 
of  herbivorous  animals  would 
be  regulated  by  the  amount 
of  the  food-supply  available, 
as  well  as  constantly  checked 
by  the  attacks  of  the  large 
carnivora,  such  as  lions, 
leopards,  cheetas,  hyaenas,  and 
wild  dogs;  but  I  have  never 
been  able  to  comprehend 
what  has  kept  within  bounds 
the  inordinate  increase  of 
lions  and  other  carnivorous 
animals  in  countries  where 
for  ages  past  they  have  had 
an  abundant  food-supply,  and 
at  the  same  time,  having 


THE    CAT    TRIBE 


37 


been  almost  entirely  unmolested  by  human  beings,  have  had  no  enemies.  Perhaps  such  a 
state  of  things  does  not  exist  at  the  present  day,  but  there  are  many  parts  of  Africa  where  such 
conditions  have  existed  from  time  immemorial  up  to  within  quite  recent  years. 

Since  lions  were  once  to  be  found  over  the  greater  portion  of  the  vast  continent  of  Africa, 
it  is  self-evident  that  these  animals  are  able  to  accommodate  themselves  to  great  variations  of 
climate  and  surroundings ;  and  I  myself  have  met  with  them,  close  to  the  sea,  in  the  hot  and 
sultry  coastlands  of  Southeast  Africa ;  on  the  high  plateau  of  Mashonaland,  where  at  an  altitude 
of  6,000  feet  above  sea-level  the  winter  nights  are  cold  and  frosty ;  amongst  the  stony  hills  to  the 
east  of  the  Victoria  Falls  of  the  Zambesi ;  and  in  the  swamps  of  the  Chobi.  In  the  great  reed- 
beds  of  the  latter  river  a  certain  number  of  lions  appeared  to  live  constantly,  preying  on  buffaloes 


Phote  bj  Frattlli  Altnarf] 

A    YOUNG    LIONESS 

The  sole  of  the  hind  foot  shows  the  soft  fads  on  -which  the  Cats  noiselessly  approach  their  prey 


[  Florcnci 


and  lechwe  antelopes.  I  often  heard  them  roaring  at  nights  in  these  swamps,  and  I  once  saw 
two  big  male  lions  wading  slowly  across  an  open  space  between  two  beds  of  reeds  in  water  nearly 
a  foot  in  depth. 

Although  there  are  great  individual  differences  in  lions  as  regards  size,  general  colour  of 
coat,  and  more  particularly  in  the  length,  colour,  and  profuseness  of  the  mane  with  which  the 
males  are  adorned,  yet  as  these  differences  occur  in  every  part  of  Africa  where  lions  are  met 
with,  and  since  constant  varieties  with  one  fixed  type  of  mane  living  by  themselves  and  not  inter- 
breeding with  other  varieties  do  not  exist  anywhere,  modern  zoologists  are,  I  think,  now  agreed 
that  there  is  only  one  species  of  lion,  since  in  any  large  series  of  wild  lion  skins,  made  in  any 
particular  district  of  Africa  or  Asia,  every  gradation  will  be  found  between  the  finest-maned 
specimens  and  those  which  are  destitute  of  any  mane  at  all.  Several  local  races  have,  however, 
been  recently  described  by  German  writers. 

In  the  hot  and  steamy  coastlands  of  tropical  Africa  lions  usually  have  short  manes,  and 
never,  I  believe,  attain  the  long  silky  black  manes  sometimes  met  with  on  the  high  plateaux 
of  the  interior.  However,  there  is,  I  believe,  no  part  of  Africa  where  all  or  even  the  majority 


THE    LIVING    ANIMALS    OF    THE    WORLD 


By  fermiuion  of  Herr  Carl  Hagtnbeck]  [Hamburg 

A    HAPPY    FAMILY 

Here  is  a  group  of  animals  and  their  keeper  from  Herr  Hagenbeck"  s  Thierpark.  The  animal  in 
front  is  a  cross  between  a  lion  and  a  tigress ;  he  lives  on  quite  friendly  terms  "with  his  keeper,  and  also 
with  lions,  tigers,  and  leopards,  as  seen  in  the  photograph 


of  male  lions  carry  heavy 
manes,  the  long  hair  of 
which  does  not  as  a  rule 
cover  more  than  the  neck 
and  chest,  with  a  tag  of 
varying  length  and  thick- 
ness extending  from  the 
back  of  the  neck  to  be- 
tween the  shoulder-blades. 
Lions  with  very  full  black 
manes,  covering  the  whole 
shoulders,  are  rare  any- 
where, but  more  likely  to 
be  encountered  on  the 
high  plateaux,  where  the 
winter  nights  are  ex- 
tremely cold,  than  any- 
where else.  In  such  cases, 
in  addition  to  the  tufts 
of  hair  always  found  on 
the  elbows  and  in  the 
armpits  of  lions  with  fair- 
sized  manes,  there  will 


probably   be    large    tufts 

of  hair  in  each  flank  just  where  the  thighs  join  the  belly ;  but  I  have  never  yet  seen  the 
skin  of  a  lion  shot  within  the  last  thirty  years  with  the  whole  belly  covered  with  long,  thick 
hair,  as  may  constantly  be  observed  in  lions  kept  in  captivity  in  menageries.  There  is, 
however,  some  evidence  to  show  that,  when  lions  existed  on  the  high  plains  of  the  Cape 
Colony  and  the  Orange  River  Colony,  where  the  winter  nights  are  much  colder  than  in  the 
countries  farther  north  where  lions  may  still  be  encountered,  certain  individuals  of  the  species 
developed  a  growth  of  long  hair  all  over  the  belly,  as  well  as  an  extraordinary  luxuriance  of  mane 
on  the  neck  and  shoulders. 

From  the  foregoing  remarks  it  will 
be  seen  that  wild  lions,  having  as  a  rule 
much  less  luxuriant  manes  than  many 
examples  of  their  kind  to  be  seen  in 
European  menageries,  are  ordinarily  not  so 
majestic  and  dignified  in  appearance  as 
many  of  their  caged  relatives.  On  the 
other  hand,  the  wild  lion  is  a  much  more 
alert  and  active  animal  than  a  menagerie 
specimen,  and  when  in  good  condition  is 
far  better  built  and  more  powerful-looking, 
being  free  from  all  appearance  of  lankiness 
and  weakness  in  the  legs,  and  having  strong, 


well-formed  hindquarters.  The  eyes  of  the 
menagerie  lion,  too,  look  brown  and  usually 
sleepy,  whilst  those  of  the  wild  animal  are 
yellow,  and  extraordinarily  luminous  even 


«T  permission  of  Herr  Carl  Ha^inbicl']  [Hamburg 

A    CROSS    BETWEEN    LION   AND    TIGRESS 

This  unique  photograph  shows  a  remarkable  hybrid  and  its  proud  parents. 
The  father  (on  the  right]  is  a  lion,  and  the  mother  (on  the  left)  a  tigress. 
The  offspring  (in  the  centre)  is  a  fine,  large  male,  now  four  years  old;  a 


after    death.       When  WOUnded  and  Standing          is  bigger  than  an  average-sized  lion  o"  tiger 


Phut,  b)  Onomar  Jnichiitx] 


[Btrlin 


A   HUNGRY   LION 

Notict  that  the  mane,  at  in  most  wild  tiom,  Is  very  scanty 

39 


THE    LIVING    ANIMALS    OF    THE    WORLD 


J»*.i.  h  L.  MtJUmJ,  F.Z.S.,  K.nl,  Flnililt 

TIGER   CUB 

Natt  tkt  great  Jevclofmtnt  of  tkt  leg* 


greater  part  of  the  natives  of  Southern  Africa  to  put  an  end  to 
any  lion  which  may  take  to  eating  men  that  prevents  these 
animals  as  a  rule  from  becoming  the  formidable  pests  which 
man-eating  tigers  appear  to  be  in  parts  of  India.  But  man- 
eating  lions  in  Africa  are  not  invariably  old  animals.  One 
which  killed  thirty -seven  human  beings  in  1887,  on  the  Majili 
River,  to  the  north-west  of  the  Victoria  Falls  of  the  Zambesi, 
was,  when  at  last  he  was  killed,  found  to  be  an  animal  in  the 
prime  of  life ;  whilst  the  celebrated  man-eaters  of  the  Tsavo 
River,  in  East  Africa,  were  also  apparently  strong,  healthy 
animals.  These  two  man-eating  lions  caused  such  consterna- 
tion amongst  the  Indian  workmen  on  the  Uganda  Railway 
that  the  work  of  construction  was  considerably  retarded,  the 
helpless  coolies  refusing  to  remain  any  longer  in  a  country 
where  they  were  liable  to  be  eaten  on  any  night  by  a  man- 
eating  lion.  Both  these  lions  were  at  last  shot  by  one  of  the 
engineers  on  the  railway  (Mr.  J.  H.  Patterson),  but  not 
before  they  had  killed  and  devoured  twenty-eight  Indian 
coolies  and  an  unknown  number  of  native  Africans. 

THE   TIGER 

TIGERS  are  the  "  type  animal "  of  Asia.  They  are  found  nowhere  else.  Lions  were  inhab- 
itants, even  in  historic  times,  of  Europe,  and  are  still  common  on  the  Euphrates  and  in  parts 
of  Persia,  just  as  they  were  when  the  Assyrian  kings  shot  them  with  arrows  from  their  hunting- 
chariots.  They  survived  in  Greece  far  later  than  the  days  when  story  says  that  Hercules  slew 
the  Nemean  lion  in  the  Peloponnesus,  for  the  baggage-animals  of  Xerxes'  army  of  invasion  were 
attacked  by  lions  near  Mount  Athos.  But  the  tiger  never  comes,  and  never  did  come  in  historic 
times,  nearer  to  Europe  than 
the  Caucasian  side  of  the 
Caspian  Sea.  On  the  other 
hand,  they  range  very  far 
north.  All  our  tiger-lore  is 
Indian.  There  is  scarcely  a 
story  of  tigers  to  be  found 
in  English  books  of  sport 
which  deals  with  the  animal 
north  of  the  line  of  the 
Himalaya.  These  Chinese 
northern  tigers  and  the 
Siberian  tigers  are  far  larger 
than  those  of  India.  They 
have  long  woolly  coats,  in 
order  to  resist  the  cold. 
Their  skins  are  brought  to 
market  in  hundreds  every 
year  to  the  great  fur-sales. 
But  the  animals  themselves 
we  never  see.  The  present 
writer  was  informed  by  a 
friend  that  in  the  Amur  TAiihan 


A  ROYAL  TIGER 

Tiger,  «,,,*  tht  „,„,*,  th,n  «»t  g 


in  that  hot 


THE    CAT    TRIBE 


Ph»l,  by  Fralilli  Alinar,] 

A    TIGER    BEFORE   SLEEPING 
Tigers,  -when  about  to  sleep,  at  in  this  position -t   -when  more  drowsy,  they  lie  down  or  roll  over  on  their  backs 


IF  linnet 


Valley  he  shot  three  of  these  tigers  in  a  day,  putting  them  up  in  thick  bush-scrub  by  the 
id  of  dogs. 

The  ROYAL  BENGAL  TIGER,  so  called,  and  very  properly  called  in  the  old  books  of  natural 
listory,  is  a  different  and  far  more  savage  beast.  It  is  almost  invariably  a  ferocious  savage, 
ierce  by  nature,  never  wishing  to  be  otherwise  than  a  destroyer — of  beasts  mainly,  but  often  of 
men.  Compared  with  the  lion,  it  is  far  longer,  but  rather  lighter,  for  the  lion  is  more  massive 
and  compact.  "  A  well-grown  tigress,"  says  Sir  Samuel  Baker,  "  may  weigh  on  an  average  240 
t)S.  live  weight.  A  very  fine  tiger  may  weigh  440  Ibs.,  but  if  fat  the  same  tiger  would  weigh  500 
IDS.  There  may  be  tigers  which  weigh  50  Ibs.  more  than  this  ;  but  I  speak  according  to  my 
xperience.  I  have  found  that  a  tiger  of  9  feet  8  inches  is  about  2  inches  above  the  average. 
The  same  skin  may  be  stretched  to  measure  10  feet.  A  tiger  in  the  Zoological  Gardens  is  a  long, 
ithe  creature  with  little  flesh.  Such  a  specimen  affords  a  poor  example  of  this  grand  animal  in 
ts  native  jungles,  with  muscles  in  their  full,  ponderous  development  from  continual  exertion  in 
nightly  travels  over  long  distances,  and  in  mortal  struggles  when  wrestling  with  its  prey.  A  well- 
ed tiger  is  by  no  means  a  slim  figure.  On  the  contrary,  it  is  exceedingly  bulky,  broad  in  the 
houlders,  back,  and  loins,  and  with  an  extraordinary  girth  of  limbs,  especially  in  the  forearms 
md  wrists." 

This  ponderous,  active,  and  formidably  armed  creature  is,  as  might  be  expected,  able  to  hold 
ts  own  wherever  Europeans  do  not  form  part  of  the  regular  population.  In  India  the  peasants 
.re  quite  helpless  even  against  a  cattle-killing  tiger  in  a  populous  part  of  the  country.  In  the 
arge  jungles,  and  on  the  islands  at  the  mouths  of  the  great  rivers,  the  tigers  have  things  all  their 
>wn  way.  Things  are  no  better  in  the  Far  East.  A  large  peninsula  near  Singapore  is  said  to 


44 


THE     LIVING    ANIMALS    OF    THE    WORLD 


have  been  almost  abandoned  by  its  cultivators  lately,  owing  to  the  loss  of  life  caused  by  the 
tigers.  In  the  populous  parts  of  India  the  tiger  is  far  more  stealthy  than  in  the  out-of-the-way 
districts.  It  only  hunts  by  night ;  and  after  eating  a  part  of  the  animal  killed,  moves  off  to  a 
distance,  and  does  not  return.  Otherwise  the  regular  habit  is  to  return  to  the  kill  just  at  or  after 
dusk,  and  finish  the  remainder.  Its  suspicions  seem  quite  lulled  to  sleep  after  dark.  Quite 
recently  a  sportsman  sat  up  to  watch  for  a  tiger  at  a  water-hole.  It  was  in  the  height  of  the 
Indian  hot  season,  when  very  little  water  was  left.  All  the  creatures  of  that  particular  neigh- 
bourhood were  in  the  habit  of  coming  to  drink  at  one  good  pool  still  left  in  the  rocky  bed  of  the 
river.  There  the  tigers  came  too.  The  first  night  they  did  not  come  until  all  the  other  creatures 
— hog,  deer,  peacocks,  and  monkeys — had  been  down  to  drink.  They  then  came  so  softly  over 
the  sand  that  the  gunner  in  waiting  did  not  hear  them  pass.  His  first  knowledge  that  they  were 
there  was  due  to  the  splashing  they  made  as  they  entered  the  water.  It  was  quite  dark,  and  he 
felt  not  a  little  nervous,  for  the  bush  on  which  he  was  seated  on  a  small  platform  was  only  some 
10  feet  high.  He  heard  the  two  tigers  pass  him,  not  by  their  footsteps,  but  by  the  dripping  of 

the  water  as  it  ran  off  their 
bodies  on  to  the  sand.  Next 
night  they  came  again.  This 
time,  though  it  was  dark,  he 
shot  one  in  a  very  ingenious 
manner.  The  two  tigers 
walked  into  the  water,  and 
apparently  lay  down  or  sat 
down  in  it,  with  their  heads 
out.  They  only  moved  occa- 
sionally, lapping  the  water, 
but  did  not  greatly  disturb 
the  surface.  On  this  was  re- 
flected a  bright  star  from  the 
sky  above.  The  sportsman 
put  the  sight  of  the  rifle  on 
the  star,  and  kept  it  up  to  his 
shoulder.  Something  obliter- 
ated the  star,  and  he  instantly 
fired.  The  "  something  "  was 
the  tiger's  head,  which  the 
bullet  duly  hit. 

The  hill-tigers  of  India  are,  or  were,  much  more  given  to  hunting  by  day  than  the  jungle- 
tigers.  In  the  Nilgiri  Hills  of  Southern  India  the  late  General  Douglas  Hamilton  said  that  before 
night  the  tigers  were  already  about  hunting,  and  that  in  the  shade  of  evening  it  was  dangerous 
to  ride  on  a  pony — not  because  the  tigers  wished  to  kill  the  rider,  but  because  they  might  mis- 
take the  pony  and  its  rider  for  a  sambar  deer.  He  was  stalked  like  this  more  than  once.  Often, 
when  stalking  sambar  deer  and  ibex  by  day,  he  saw  the  tigers  doing  the  same,  or  after  other 
prey.  "My  brother  Richard,"  he  writes,  "  was  out  after  a  tiger  which  the  hillmen  reported  had 
killed  a  buffalo  about  an  hour  before.  He  saw  the  tiger  on  first  getting  to  the  ground,  and  the 
tiger  had  seen  him.  It  was  lying  out  in  the  open  watching  the  buffalo,  and  shuffled  into  the 
wood,  and  would  not  come  out  again.  Next  morning,  when  we  got  to  the  ground,  the  tiger 
was  moving  from  rock  to  rock,  and  had  dragged  the  body  into  a  nullah.  .  .  .  We  were  upon 
the  point  of  starting  home  when  we  observed  a  number  of  vultures  coming  down  to  the  carcase. 
The  vultures  began  to  collect  in  large  numbers  on  the  opposite  hill.  I  soon  counted  fifty ;  but 
they  would  not  go  near  the  buffalo.  Then  some  crows,  bolder  than  the  rest,  flew  down,  and 


[Par ion'/  Grim 


.  Phttt  by  Schalaitic  Photo.  Co.] 

A    HALF-GROWN    TIGER    CUB 

Tigers  "groiv  to  their  head,"  like  children.      The  head  of  a  half-grown  cub  is  as  long,  though 
not  so  broad,  as  that  of  the  adult 


\_Florrnct 


Pfuio  bj  frtutlll  Minari] 

TIGERS    IN    ITALY 

These  tigers  were  photographed  in  Turin.      Italy  was  the  first  European  country  to  which  these  animals  "were  brought  from  the  Eatt 

45 


46 


THE     LIVING    ANIMALS    OF    THE    WORLD 


made   a   great  row  over  their  meal.     All  of 

a  sudden  they  all  flew  up,  and  I  made  certain 

it  was  the  tiger.     Then  my  brother  fired,  and 

there  he  was,  shot  right  through  the  brain, 

lying  just  above  the  buffalo.     He  had  been 

brought  down  by  the  noise  the  crows  were 

making.      Upon    driving    the    sholas   (small 

woods  on  these  hills),  tigers  were  often  put 

out.     Sometimes   they  availed  themselves   of 

the  drive  to  secure  food  for  themselves.     A 

wood  was  being  driven,  when   a  tremendous 

grunting  was  heard,  and  out  rushed  an  old 

boar,  bristling  and  savage.      B —  -  was  about 

to  raise  his  rifle,  when  a  growl  like  thunder 

stopped  him,  and  a  great  tiger  with  one  spring 

cleared  the  nullah,  and  alighted  on  the  back 

of   the   old   boar.     Such   a  battle  then  took 

place  that,  what  with  the  growls  of  the  tiger 

and  the  squeals  of  the  boar,  one  might  believe 

oneself  in  another  world.    I  thought  of  nothing 

but  of  how  to  kill  one  or  the  other,  or  both ; 

so,  as  they  were  rolling  down  over  and  over, 

about  fifty  yards  from  me  on  the  open  hill- 
side, I  let  fly  both  barrels.     For  a  second  or 

two  the  noise  went  on  ;  then  the  tiger  jumped 

off,  and   the   boar  struggled  into  the  nullah 

close  by.     The   tiger  pulled  up,  and  coolly 

stared   at  us  without  moving;   but  his  courage  seemed  to  fail  him,  and  he  sprang  into   the 

nullah  and  disappeared." 

In  most  parts  of  India  tigers  are  now  scarce  and  shy,  except  in  the  preserves  of  the  great 

rajas,  and  the  dominions  of  some  mighty  and  pious  Hindu  potentates,  such  as  the  Maharaja  of 

Jeypur,  who,  being  supposed  to  be  descended  from  a  Hindu  god,  allows  no  wild  animals  to  be 

killed.      There   the   deer  and   pig   are  so  numerous  that   tigers    are   welcome   to   keep  them 

down.  But  the  Sunderbunds,  unwhole- 
some islands  at  the  Ganges  mouth,  still 
swarm  with  them.  So  does  the  Malay 
Peninsula. 

Mr.  J.  D.  Cobbold  shot  a  tiger  in 
Central  Asia  in  a  swamp  so  deep  in  snow 
and  so  deadly  cold  that  he  dared  not 
stay  for  fear  of  being  frozen  to  death. 
Tigers  sometimes  wander  as  far  west  as  the 
Caucasus  near  the  Caspian.  The  farther 
north,  the  larger  your  tiger,  is  the  rule. 
The  biggest  ever  seen  in  Europe  was 
a  Siberian  tiger  owned  by  Herr  Carl 
Hagenbeck,  of  Hamburg,  and  the  largest 
known  skin  and  skull  is  from  the  Far 
North.  The  skin  is  1 3  feet  6  inches  from 
the  nose  to  the  end  of  the  tail.  The 


By  ptrmisiion  of  Htrr  Carl  Hagtnbeck] 

A   LEOPARD-PUMA    HYBRID 

This  is  a  photograph  from  life  of  a  -very  rare  hybrid.  The  animal's 
father  was  a  puma,  its  mother  a  leopard.  It  is  now  dead,  and  may  be 
seen  stuffed  in  Mr.  Rothschild"  s  Museum  at  Tring 


Photo  by  L.  Midland,  F.Z.S.] 


(North  Fimhltf 


LEOPARDS 


A  pair  of  leopards,  one  spotted,  the  other  black.      Black  leopards  may  be  the 
offspring  oftht  ordinary  spotted  form  ;   they  are  generally  much  more  sa-vage 


THE    CAT    TRIBE 


47 


largest    Indian    tiger-skin,   from    one   killed  by   the    Maharaja   of  Cuch    Behar,   measures    II 
feet   7   inches. 

LEOPARDS 

LESS  in  size,  but  even  more  ferocious,  the  LEOPARD  has  a  worse  character  than  the  tiger. 
Living  mainly  in  trees,  and  very  nocturnal,  this  fierce  and  dangerous  beast  is  less  often  seen  than 
far  rarer  animals.  It  is  widely  spread  over  the  world,  from  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope  to  the  Atlas 
Mountains,  and  from  Southern  China  to  the  Black  Sea,  where  it  is  sometimes  met  with  in  the 
Caucasus.  There  seems  to  be  no  legend  of  its  presence  in  Greece,  Italy,  or  Spain ;  but  it  was 
quite  common  in  Asia  Minor ;  and  Cicero,  when  governor  of  Cilicia,  was  plagued  by  an  aristo- 
cratic young  friend  in  Rome  to  send  him  leopards  to  exhibit  in  ^f'cte  he  was  giving. 

Any  one  who  has  frequented  the  Zoo  for  any  time  must  have  noticed  the  difference  in  size 
and  colour  between  leopards  from  different  parts  of  the  world.  On  some  the  ground-colour  is 
almost  white,  in  others  a  clear  nut-brown.  Others  are  jet-black.  Wherever  they  live,  they  are 
cattle  thieves,  sheep  thieves,  and  dog  thieves.  Though  not  formidable  in  appearance,  they  are 
immensely  strong.  Sometimes  one  will  turn  man-eater.  Both  in  India  and  lately  in  Africa  cases 
have  been  known  where  they  have  "  set  up  "  in  this  line  as  deliberately  as  any  tiger.  They  have 
four  or  five  young  at  a  birth,  which  may  often  be  kept  tame  for  some  time  and  are  amusing  pets. 
But  the  following  plain  story  shows  the  danger  of  such  experiments.  At  Hongkong  an  English 
merchant  had  a  tame  leopard,  which  was  brought  into  the  room  by  a  coolie  for  the  guests  to  see 
at  a  dinner  party.  Excited  by  the  smell  of  food,  it  refused  to  go  out  when  one  of  the  ladies, 
who  did  not  like  its  looks,  wished  for  it  to  be  removed.  The  man  took  hold  of  its  collar  and 
began  to  haul  it  out.  It  seized  him  by  the  neck,  bit  it  through,  and  in  a  minute  the  coolie  was 
dying,  covered  with  blood,  on  the  dining-room  floor ! 

The  Chinese  leopard  ranges  as  far  north  as  the  Siberian  tiger,  and,  like  the  latter,  seems 
to  grow  larger  the  farther  north  it  is  found.  The  colour  of  these  northern  leopards  is  very 


fh,tt  bj  C.  R,id] 


A    YOUNG   LEOPARD 

The  leopard  cub  it  far  more  cat-like  in  appearance  than  the  young  tiger  or  lion 


[lfi,haw,  N. 


48  THE    LIVING    ANIMALS    OF    THE    WORLD 

pale,  the  spots  large,  and  the  fur  very  long.  At  the  March  fur-sales  of  the  present  year,  held  at 
the  stores  of  Sir  Charles  Lampson,  there  were  Siberian  leopard-skins  as  large  as  those  of  a  small 
tiger. 

Leopards  are  essentially  tree-living  and  nocturnal  animals.  Sleeping  in  trees  or  caves  by 
day,  they  are  seldom  disturbed.  They  do  an  incredible  amount  of  mischief  among  cattle,  calves, 
sheep,  and  dogs,  being  especially  fond  of  killing  and  eating  the  latter.  They  seize  their  prey  by 
the  throat,  and  cling  with  their  claws  until  they  succeed  in  breaking  the  spine  or  in  strangling 
the  victim.  The  largest  leopards  are  popularly  called  PANTHERS.  In  India  they  sometimes 
become  man-eaters,  and  are  always  very  dangerous.  They  have  a  habit  of  feeding  on  putrid 
flesh ;  this  makes  wounds  inflicted  by  their  teeth  or  claws  liable  to  blood-poisoning.  Nothing  in 
the  way  of  prey  comes  amiss  to  them,  from  a  cow  in  the  pasture  to  a  fowl  up  at  roost.  "  In 
every  country,"  says  Sir  Samuel  Baker,  "  the  natives  are  unanimous  in  saying  that  the  leopard  is 
more  dangerous  than  the  lion  or  tiger. 

Wberever   I   have  been   in  Africa,  the  ^^^^^fc 

natives  have  declared  that  they  had  no 
fear  of  a  lion,  provided  they  were  not 
hunting,  for  it  would  not  attack  unpro- 
voked, but  that  a  leopard  was  never  to 
be  trusted.  I  remember  when  a  native 
boy,  accompanied  by  his  grown-up 
brother,  was  busily  employed  with 
others  in  firing  the  reeds  on  the  op- 
posite  bank  of  a  small  stream.  Being 

frl 


Photo  b-  J.  IT.  McLellan-}  [Highburf 

SNOW-LEOPARD,    OR    OUNCE 

This  is  a  striking  portrait  of  a  -very  beautiful  animal.      Note  the  long  bushy  tail,  thick  ccat,  and  targe  eyes 

thirsty  and  hot,  the  boy  stooped  down  to  drink,  when  he  was  immediately  seized  by  a  leopard. 
His  brother,  with  admirable  aim,  hurled  his  spear  at  the  leopard  while  the  boy  was  in  his  jaws. 
The  point  separated  the  vertebrae  of  the  neck,  and  the  leopard  fell  stone-dead.  The  boy  was 
carried  to  my  hut,  but  there  was  no  chance  of  recovery.  The  fangs  had  torn  open  the  chest 
and  injured  the  lungs.  These  were  exposed  to  view  through  the  cavity  of  the  ribs.  He  died 
the  same  night." 

In  the  great  mountain-ranges  of  Central  Asia  the  beautiful  SNOW-LEOPARD  is  found.  It  is  a 
large  creature,  with  thick,  woolly  coat,  and  a  long  tail  like  a  fur  boa.  The  colour  is  white, 
clouded  with  beautiful  gray,  like  that  of  an  Angora  cat.  The  edges  of  the  cloudings  and  spots 
are  marked  with  black  or  darker  gray.  The  eyes  are  very  large,  bluish  gray  or  smoke-coloured. 
It  lives  on  the  wild  sheep,  ibex,  and  other  mountain  animals.  In  captivity  it  is  far  the  tamest 
and  gentlest  of  the  large  carnivora,  not  excepting  the  puma.  Unlike  the  latter,  it  is  a  sleepy, 
quiet  animal,  like  a  domestic  cat.  The  specimen  shown  here  belonged  to  a  lady  in  India,  who 
kept  it  for  some  time  as  a  pet.  It  was  then  brought  to  the  Zoological  Gardens,  where  it  was 
more  amiable  and  friendly  than  most  cats.  The  writer  has  entered  its  cage  with  the  keeper, 
stroked  it,  and  patted  its  head,  without  in  the  least  ruffling  its  good-temper.  The  heat  of  the 
lion-house  did  not  suit  it,  and  it  died  of  consumption. 


V 177 


fhnt  h  Otttmar  Anicnutx]  [Btrlin 


CHEETA 

A  chceta  is  a  hunting-leopard;  thit  one  is  a  particularly  large  specimen.      Tht  cheetas  are  dealt  luith  later  on  in  this  chapter 

1  49 


5° 


THE    LIVING    ANIMALS    OF    THE    WORLD 


flute  ty  G.  W.  Wilson  &•  Co.,  Ltd.! 


\_Aberdnn 


JAGUAR 

The  largest  and  strongest  of  the  Cats  of  America.      A  South  American  species 

THE   AMERICAN    CATS 

THE  cats,  great  and  small,  of  the  New  World  resemble  those  of  the  Old,  though  not  quite 
so  closely  as  the  caribou,  wapiti  deer,  and  moose  of  the  northern  forests  resemble  the  reindeer, 
red  deer,  and  elk  of  Europe.  They  are  like,  but  with  a  difference.  The  Jaguar  and  the  Ocelot 
are  respectively  larger  ai,d  far  more  beautiful  than  their  counterparts,  the  leopard  and  serval 
cats.  But  the  Puma,  the  one  medium-sized  feline  animal  which  is  unspotted,  is  something 
unique.  The  jaguar  and  puma  are  found  very  far  south  in  South  America ;  and  though  the 
jaguar  is  really  a  forest  animal,  it  seems  to  have  wandered  out  on  to  the  Pampas  of  Argen- 
tina, perhaps  attracted  by  the  immense  numbers  of  cattle,  sheep,  and  horses  on  these  plains. 

THE  JAGUAR 

The  JAGUAR  is  as  savage  as  it  is  formidable, 
but  does  not  often  attack  men.  Its  headquarters 
are  the  immense  forests  running  from  Central 
America  to  Southern  Brazil ;  and  as  all  great  forests 
are  little  inhabited,  the  jaguar  is  seldom  encoun- 
tered by  white  men.  By  the  banks  of  the  great 
rivers  it  is  semi-aquatic ;  it  swims  and  climbs  with 
equal  ease,  and  will  attack  animals  on  board  boats 
anchored  in  the  rivers.  As  there  are  few  animals 
of  great  size  in  these  forests,  its  great  strength  is 
not  often  seen  exercised,  as  is  that  of  the  lion ;  but 
it  is  the  personification  of  concentrated  force,  and 
its  appearance  is  well  worth  studying  from  that 
point  of  view.  The  spots  are  larger  and  squarer  than 
in  the  leopard,  the  head  ponderous,  the  forearms 
and  feet  one  mass  of  muscle,  knotted  under  the 
velvet  skin.  On  the  Amazons  it  draws  its  food 
alike  from  the  highest  tree-tops  and  the  river-bed; 
in  the  former  it  catches  monkeys  in  the  branches, 
fish  in  the  shallows  of  the  rivers,  and  scoops  out 
turtles'  eggs  from  the  sand  banks.  Humboldt,  who 
visited  these  regions  when  the  white  population 


Phote  by  Scholastic  Photo.  Co.,  Panon' i  Grttn 

PUMA 

A  puma  in  the  act  of  lying  down,  like  a  domestic  cat 


THE    CAT    TRIBE 


5' 


was  scarce,  declared  that  4,000  jaguars  were  killed  annually,  and  2.OOO  skins  exported  from 
Buenos  Ayres  alone.  It  was  clearly  common  on  the  Pampas  in  his  day,  and  made  as  great 
havoc  among  the  cattle  and  horses  as  it  does  to-day. 

THE  PUMA 

The  PUMA  is  a  far  more  interesting  creature.  It  is  found  from  the  mountains  in  Montana, 
next  the  Canadian  boundary,  to  the  south  of  Patagonia.  Many  stories  of  its  ferocity  may 
have  some  foundation ;  but  the  writer  believes  there  is  no  recorded  instance  of  the  northern 
puma  attacking  man  unprovoked,  though  in  the  few  places  where  it  now  survives  it  kills  cattle- 
calves  and  colts.  It  is  relentlessly  hunted  with  dogs,  treed,  and  shot.  As  to  the  puma  of  the 


1 


Phett  bj  Ottttmar  jtnichiitx] 


iBirlin 


FEMALE    PUMA 

Thit  ihows  a  puma  alert  and  vigilant,  "with  eart  pricked  forward 


southern  plains  and  central  forests,  the  natives,  whether  Indians  or  Gauchos,  agree  with  the 
belief,  steadily  handed  down  from  the  days  of  the  first  Spanish  conquest,  that  the  puma  is  the 
one  wild  cat  which  is  naturally  friendly  to  man.  The  old  Spaniards  called  it  amigo  del  Cristiano 
(the  Christian's  friend);  and  Mr.  Hudson,  in  "The  Naturalist  in  La  Plata,"  gives  much  evidence 
of  this  most  curious  and  interesting  tendency :  "  It  is  notorious  that  where  the  puma  is  the  only 
large  beast  of  prey  it  is  perfectly  safe  for  a  small  child  to  go  out  and  sleep  on  the  plain.  .  .  . 
The  puma  is  always  at  heart  a  kitten,  taking  unmeasured  delight  in  its  frolics;  and  when, 
as  often  happens,  one  lives  alone  in  the  desert,  it  will  amuse  itself  for  hours  fighting  mock  bat- 
tles or  playing  hide-and-seek  with  imaginary  companions,  or  lying  in  wait  and  putting  all  its 
wonderful  strategy  in  practice  to  capture  a  passing  butterfly."  From  Azara  downwards  these 
Stories  have  been  told  too  often  not  to  be  largely  true;  and  in  old  natural  histories,  whose 


THE    LIVING    ANIMALS    OF    THE    WORLD 


writers  believed  the  puma  was 
a  terrible  man-eater,  they  also 
appear  as  "  wonderful  escapes." 
One  tells  how  a  man  put  his 
poncho,  or  cloak,  over  his  back 
when  crawling  up  to  get  a  shot 
at  some  duck,  and  felt  something 
heavy  on  the  end  of  it.  He 
crept  from  under  it,  and  there 
was  a  puma  sitting  on  it,  which 
did  not  offer  to  hurt  him. 

As  space  forbius  further 
quotation  from  Mr.  Hudson's 
experiences,  which  should  be 
read,  the  writer  will  only  add  one 
anecdote  which  was  told  him  by 
Mr.  Everard  im  Thurn,  C.  B., 
formerly  an  official  in  British 
Guiana.  He  was  going  up  one 
of  the  big  rivers  in  his  steam- 
launch,  and  gave  a  passage  to  an 
elderly  and  respectable  Cornish 
miner,  who  wanted  to  go  up  to 
a  gold-mine.  The  visitor  had  his 
meals  on  the  boat,  but  at  night 
went  ashore  with  the  men  and 
slung  his  hammock  between  two 
trees,  leaving  the  cabin  to  his 

host.  One  morning  two  of  the  Indian  crew  brought  the  miner's  hammock  on  board  with  a 
good  deal  of  laughing  and  talking.  Their  master  asked  what  the  joke  was,  whereupon,  pointing 
to  the  trees  whence  they  had  unslung  the  hammock,  one  said,  "  Tiger  sleep  with  old  man  last 
night."  They  were  quite  in  earnest,  and  pointed  out  a  hollow  and  marks  on  the  leaves,  which 
showed  that  a  puma  had  been  lying  just  under  the  mans  hammock.  When  asked  if  he  had 
noticed  anything  in  the  night,  he  said,  "  Only  the  frogs  croaking  wakened  me  up."  The  croak- 
ing of  the  frogs  was  probably  the  hoarse  purring  of  the  friendly  puma  enjoying  his  proximity 
to  a  sleeping  man.  Mr.  Hudson  quotes  a  case  in  which  four  pumas  played  round  and  leapt  over 
a  person  camping  out  on  the  Pampas.  He  watched  them  for  some  time,  and  then  went  to  sleep ! 
Many  of  those  brought  to  this  country  come  with  their  tempers  ruined  by  ill-treatment  and 
hardship ;  but  a  large  proportion  are  as  tame  as  cats.  Captain  Marshall  had  one  at  Marlow 
which  used  to  follow  him  on  a  chain  and  watch  the  boats  full  of  pleasure-seekers  at  the  lock. 

The  puma  is  always  a  beautiful  creature, — the  fur  cinnamon-coloured,  tinged  with  gold ;  the 
belly  and  chest  white ;  the  tail  long,  full,  and  round.  Though  friendly  to  man,  it  is  a  desperate 
cattle-killer,  and  particularly  fond  of  horse-flesh,  so  much  so  that  it  has  been  suggested  that  the 
indigenous  wild  horses  of  America  were  destroyed  by  the  puma. 

There  are  two  other  cats  of  the  Pampas — the  GRASS-CAT,  not  unlike  our  wild  cat  in  appear- 
ance and  habits,  and  the  WOOD-CAT,  or  Geoffrey's  Cat.  It  is  a  tabby,  and  a  most  elegant 
creature,  of  which  there  is  a  specimen,  at  the  time  of  writing,  in  the  Zoo. 

THE  OCELOT 
In  the  forest  region  is  also  found  the  most  beautiful  of  the  medium-sized  cats.     This  is  the 


Photo  b)  Ottomar  Anschutx} 

OCELOT 

Note  the  elongated  spots,  and  their  arrangement  in  chains 


[Berlin 


Photo  by  Ottomar  Anschiitz,  Berlin. 

OCELOT     FROM     CENTRAL    AMERICA. 

This  is  one  of  the  most  beautifully  marked  of  all  Mammals.     The  ornamental  colouring 
is  seldom  quite  the  same  in  any  two  specimens. 


THE    CAT    TRIBE 


53 


OCELOT,  which  corresponds  somewhat  to  the  servals,  but  is  not  the  least  like  a  lynx,  as  the 
servals  are.  It  is  entirely  a  tree-cat,  and  lives  on  birds  and  monkeys.  The  following  detailed 
description  of  its  coloration  appeared  in  "  Life  at  the  Zoo"  : — 

"  Its  coat,  with  the  exception  perhaps  of  that  of  the  clouded  leopard  of  Sumatra,  marks 
the  highest  development  of  ornament  among  four-footed  animals.  The  Argus  pheasant  alone 
seems  to  offer  a  parallel  to  the  beauties  of  the  ocelot's  fur,  especially  in  the  development  of  the 
wonderful  ocelli,  which,  though  never  reaching  in  the  beast  the  perfect  cup-and-ball  ornament 
seen  on  the  wings  of  the  bird,  can  be  traced  in  all  the  early  stages  of  spots  and  wavy  lines, 
so  far  as  the  irregular  shell-shaped  rim  and  dot  on  the  feet,  sides,  and  back,  just  as  in  the 
subsidiary  ornament  of  the  Argus  pheasant's  feathers.  Most  of  the  ground-tint  of  the  fur  is 


Photo  bj  Ottomar  Jnichutx] 

OCELOT   FROM   CENTRAL   AMERICA 

The  ocelot  can  be  tamed  and  almost  domesticated  if  taken  young,  and  is  occasionally  kept  as  a  pet  by  theforett  Indiant 


[ffirlln 


smoky-pearl  colour,  on  which  the  spots  develop  from  mere  dots  on  the  legs  and  speckles  on 
the  feet  and  toes  to  large  egg-shaped  ocelli  on  the  flanks.  There  are  also  two  beautiful 
pearl-coloured  spots  on  the  back  of  each  ear,  like  those  which  form  the  common  ornaments 
of  the  wings  of  many  moths." 

The  nose  is  pink ;  the  eye  large,  convex,  and  translucent. 

A  tame  ocelot  described  by  Wilson,  the  American  naturalist,  was  most  playful  and  affec- 
tionate, but  when  fed  with  flesh  was  less  tractable.  It  jumped  on  to  the  back  of  a  horse  in  the 
stable,  and  tried  to  curl  up  on  its  hindquarters.  The  horse  threw  the  ocelot  off  and  kicked  it, 
curing  it  of  any  disposition  to  ride.  On  seeing  a  horse,  the  ocelot  always  ran  off  to  its  kennel 
afterwards.  When  sent  to  England,  it  caught  hold  of  and  threw  down  a  child  of  four  years 
old,  whom  it  rolled  about  with  its  paws  without  hurting  it. 


54 


THE    LIVING    ANIMALS    OF    THE    WORLD 


OTHER   WILD    CATS 

A  HANDSOME  leopard-like  animal  is 
the  CLOUDED  LEOPARD.  It  is  the  size  of 
a  small  common  leopard,  but  far  gentler 
in  disposition.  Its  fur  is  not  spotted,  but 
marked  with  clouded  patches,  outlined  in 
gray  and  olive-brown.  Its  skin  is  among 
the  most  beautiful  of  the  Cats.  It  is 
found  in  the  Malay  Peninsula,  Borneo, 
Sumatra,  Formosa,  and  along  the  foot 
of  the  Himalaya  from  Nepal  to  Assam. 
Writing  of  two  which  he  kept,  Sir 
Stamford  Raffles  said :  "  No  kitten  could 
be  more  good-tempered.  They  were 
always  courting  intercourse  with  persons 
passing  by,  and  in  the  expression  of 
their  countenance  showed  the  greatest 
delight  when  noticed,  throwing  them- 
selves on  their  backs,  and  delighting  in 


Photo  by  A.  5.  Rudland  &>  Sans 

FISHING-CAT 

This  -wild  cat  haunts  the  sides  of  rivers,  and  is  an  expert  at  catching  fish 

gray  and  spotted,  and  those  which  are  gray 
and  striped,  or  "  whole-coloured."  There 
is  no  wholly  gray  wild  cat,  but  several 
sandy-coloured  species.  All  live  on  birds 
and  small  mammals,  and  probably  most 
share  the  tame  cat's  liking  for  fish.  Among 

o  o 

the  gray-and-spotted  cats  are  the  MOTTLED 
CAT  of  the  Eastern  Himalaya  and  Straits 
Settlements  and  islands ;  the  TIBETAN 
TIGER-CAT  ;  the  FISHING-CAT  of  India  and 
Ceylon,  which  is  large  enough  to  kill 
lambs,  but  lives  much  on  fish  and  large 
marsh-snails ;  GEOFFROY'S  CAT,  an  Ameri- 
can species  ;  the  LEOPARD-CAT  of  Java  and 
Japan,  which  seems  to  have  gray  fur  in 


Photo  by  A.  S.  Rudland  &>  Soni 

CLOUDED    LEOPARD 

It  shares  -with  the  ocelot  the  first  place  among  the  highly  ornamented  cats 


being  tickled  and  rubbed.  On  board  ship 
there  was  a  small  dog,  which  used  to  play 
around  the  cage  with  the  animal.  It  was 
amusing  to  watch  the  tenderness  and  play- 
fulness with  which  the  latter  came  in  con- 
tact with  its  smaller-sized  companion." 
Both  specimens  were  procured  from  the 
banks  of  the  Bencoolin  River,  in  Sumatra. 
They  are  generally  found  near  villages,  and 
are  not  dreaded  by  the  natives,  except  in 
so  far  that  they  destroy  their  poultry. 

The  number  of  smaller  leopard-cats 
and  tiger-cats  is  very  great.  They  fall, 
roughly,  into  three  groups :  those  which 
are  yellow  and  spotted,  those  which  are 


Photo  by  A.  S.  Rudland  &  Sons 

MARBLED    CAT 

Another  beautifully  marked  cat.      The  tail  is  spotted  and  -very  long,  the 
marbled  markings  being  on  the  body  only 


ffittt  tj  Ottomar  jtnithutx] 


[Btrltn 


GOLDEN   CAT 

Sumatra  it  tht  home  of  thh  very  beautifully  coloured  cat.      The  general  tint  h  that  of  gold-itone.      Sometimet  the  belly  it  fure  -white 

55 


THE    LIVING    ANIMALS    OF    THE    WORLD 


Photo  by  A.  S.  Rutland  &*  Sons 

PAMPAS-CAT 

Note  the  likeness  of  the  thick  tail  and  barred  legs  to  the  English  -wild  cat, 
"  Inexpressibly  savage  in  disposition  "  (Hudson ) 


most  beautiful  is  the  GOLDEN  CAT  of  Sumatra, 
one  of  which  is  now  in  the  Zoological  Gar- 
dens. It  has  a  coat  the  colour  of  gold-stone. 
The  nose  is  pink,  the  eyes  large  and  topaz- 
coloured,  the  cheeks  striped  with  white,  and 
Ihe  underparts  and  lower  part  of  the  tail 
pure  white. 

Four  kinds  of  wild  cats  are  known  in 
South  Africa,  of  which  the  largest  is  the 
SERVAL,  a  short-tailed,  spotted  animal,  with 
rather  more  woolly  fur  than  the  leopard's. 
The  length  is  about  4  feet  2  inches,  of  which 
the  tail  is  only  12  inches.  It  is  found  from 
Algeria  to  the  Cape ;  but  its  favourite  haunts, 
like  those  of  all  the  wild  cats  of  hot  countries, 
are  in  the  reeds  by  rivers.  It  kills  hares, 


Japan  and  a  fulvous  leopard-like  skin  in 
India,  where  it  is  also  called  the  TIGER-CAT  • 
and  the  smallest  of  all  wild  cats,  the  little 
RUSTY-SPOTTED  CAT  of  India.  This  has 
rusty  spots  on  a  gray  ground.  "I  had  a 
kitten  brought  to  me,"  says  Dr.  Jerdon 
of  the  species,  "  when  very  young.  It 
became  quite  tame,  and  was  the  delight 
and  admiration  of  all  who  saw  it.  When 
it  was  about  eight  months  old,  I  introduced 
the  fawn  of  a  gazelle  into  the  room  where 
it  was.  The  little  creature  flew  at  it  the 
moment  it  saw  it,  seized  it  by  the  nape 
of  the  neck,  and  was  with  difficulty  taken 
off."  Of  the  whole-coloured  wild  cats — which 
include  the  BAY  CAT,  the  American  PAMPAS- 
CAT,  PALLAS'  CAT  of  Tibet  and  India the 


ftltto  tj/  A.  S,  Rudland  &•  Sons 

BAY    CAT 


Photo  by  A.  S.  Rudland  SC  Soni 

EYRA    CAT 

The  lowest  and  longest  of  the  cats,  shaped  more  like  a  civet )  it  it  readily 
tamed,  and  makes  a  charming  pet 

rats,  birds,  and  small  mammals  generally. 

The  BLACK-FOOTED  WILD  CAT  is  another 
African  species.  It  is  a  beautiful  spotted- 
and-lined  tabby,  the  size  of  a  small  domestic 
cat,  and  as  likely  as  any  other  to  be  the 
origin  of  our  tabby  variety,  if  tame  cats 
came  to  Europe  from  Atrica.  At  present 
it  is  only  found  south  in  the  Kalahari  Desert 
and  Bechuanaland. 

The  KAFFIR  CAT  is  the  common  wild 
cat  of  the  Cape  Colony,  and  a  very  in- 
teresting animal.  It  is  a  whole-coloured 
tawny,  upstanding  animal,  with  all  the 
indifference  to  man  and  generally  inde- 
pendent character  of  the  domestic  tom-cat. 


THE    CAT    TRIBE 


57 


PHttt  k)  A.  S.  Rutland  &>  Son, 

KAFFIR    CAT 

The  common  -wild  cat  of  Soul  A  Africa.      It  will  interbreed  -with 
domestic  cats 


It  is,  however,  much  stronger  than  the  tame 
cats,  with  which  it  interbreeds  freely.  In  the 
Colony  it  is  often  difficult  to  keep  male  tame 
cats,  for  the  wild  Kaffir  cats  come  down  and 
fight  them  in  the  breeding-season.  The 
Egyptian  cat  is  really  the  same  animal,  slightly 
modified  by  climate.  A  very  distinct  species 
is  the  JUNGLE-CAT,  ranging  from  India, 
through  Baluchistan,  Syria,  and  East  Africa, 
and  called  in  Hindustani  the  CHAUS.  The 
European  striped  wild  cat  extends  to  the 
Himalaya,  where  the  range  of  the  lion- 
coloured,  yellow-eyed  chaus  begins.  The 
chaus  has  a  few  black  bars  inside  the  legs, 
which  vary  in  different  regions.  The  Indian 
chaus  has  only  one  distinctly  marked ;  the  Kaffir  cat  has  four  or  five.  The  EGYPTIAN  FETTERED 
CAT  has  been  said  to  be  the  origin  of  the  domestic  and  sacred  cats  of  Egypt.  A  male  chaus  is 
most  formidable  when  "  cornered."  General  Hamilton  chased  one,  which  had  prowled  into  the 
cantonments  on  the  lookout  for  fowls,  into  a  fence.  "  After  a  long  time  I  spied  the  cat  squatting 
in  a  hedge,"  he  writes,  "  and  called  for  the  dogs.  When  they  came,  I  knelt  down  and  began 
clapping  my  hands  and  cheering  them  on.  The  cat  suddenly  made  a  clean  spring  at  my  face. 
I  had  just  time  to  catch  it  as  one  would  a  cricket-ball,  and,  giving  its  ribs  a  strong  squeeze,  threw 
it  to  the  dogs  ;  but  not  before  it  had  made  its  teeth  meet  in  my  arm  just  above  the  wrist.  For  some 
weeks  I  had  to  carry  my  arm  in  a  sling,  and  I  shall  carry  the  marks  of  the  bite  to  my  grave." 

The  chaus,  as  will  be  seen  from  the  above,  wanders  boldly  down  into  the  outskirts  of  large 
towns,  cantonments,  and  bungalows,  on  the  lookout  for  chickens  and  pigeons.  Its  favourite  plan 
is  to  lie  up  at  dawn  in  some  piece  of  thick  cover  near  to  where  the  poultry  wander  out  to  scratch, 
feed,  and  bask.  It  then  pounces  on  the  nearest  unhappy  hen  and  rushes  off  with  it  into  cover. 
An  acquaintance  of  the  writer  once  had  a  number  of  fine  Indian  game  fowl,  of  which  he  was  not 
a  little  proud.  He  noticed  that  one  was  missing  every  morning  for  three  days,  and,  not  being 
able  to  discover  the  robber,  shut  them  up  in  a  hen-house.  Next  morning  he  heard  a  great  com- 
motion outside,  and  one  of  his  bearers  came  running  in  to  say  that  a  leopard  was  in  the  hen- 
house. As  this  was  only  built  of 
bamboo  or  some  such  light  material,  it 
did  not  seem  probable  that  a  leopard 
would  stay  there.  Getting  his  rifle,  he 
went  out  into  the  compound,  and  cau- 
tiously  approached  the  hen-house,  in 
which  the  fowls  were  still  making  loud 
protests  and  cries  of  alarm.  The  door 
was  shut ;  but  some  creature — certainly 
not  a  leopard — might  have  squeezed  in 
through  the  small  entrance  used  by  the 
hens.  He  opened  the  door,  and  saw  at 
the  back  of  the  hen-house  a  chaus 
sitting,  with  all  its  fur  on  end,  looking 
almost  as  large  as  a  small  leopard.  On 
the  floor  was  one  dead  fowl.  The 

,  ,        ,    f        ,.          ,  Phttt  by  A.  S.  Rutland  &•  Stni 

impudent  jungle-cat  rushed  for  the  door,  AFRICAN   CHAUS>   OR  JUNGLE_CAT 

but  had   the  coolness  to  seize  the  hen         The ckaut  it  tht  ln£ttn  and  African  e^aUm  Ofour  -wilder    hit 

3  equally  strong  and  savage 


I 


THE     LIVING    ANIMALS    OF    THE    WORLD 


as  it  passed,  and  with  this  in  its  mouth  rushed  past  the  owner  of  the  hens,  his  servants  and 
retainers,  and  reached  a  piece  of  thick  scrub  near  with  its  prize. 

As  the  chaus  is  common  both  in  India  and  Africa,  a  comparison  of  its  habits  in  both  conti- 
nents is  somewhat  interesting.  Jerdon,  the  Indian  naturalist,  writes  :  "  It  is  the  common  wild 
cat  from  the  Himalaya  to  Cape  Comorin,  and  from  the  level  of  the  sea  to  7,000  or  8,000  feet 
elevation.  It  frequents  alike  the  jungles  and  the  open  country,  and  is  very  partial  to  long  reeds, 
and  grass,  sugarcane-fields,  and  corn-fields.  It  does  much  damage  to  all  game,  especially  to 
hares  and  partridges.  Quite  recently  I  shot  a  pea-fowl  at  the  edge  of  a  sugarcane-field.  One 
of  these  cats  sprang  out,  seized  the  pea-fowl,  and  after  a  short  struggle  —  for  the  bird  was  not 
quite  dead  —  carried  it  off  before  my  astonished  eyes,  and,  in  spite  of  my  running  up,  made 
his  escape  with  his  booty.  It  must  have  been  stalking  these  very  birds,  so  closely  did  its  spring 
follow  my  shot.  It  is  said  to  breed  twice  a  year,  and  to  have  three  or  four  young  at  a  birth.  I 
have  very  often  had  the  young  brought  to  me,  but  always  failed  in  rearing  them  ;  and  they 
always  showed  a  savage  and  untamable  disposition.  I  have  seen  numbers  of  cats  about  villages 
in  various  parts  of  the  country  that  must  have  been  hybrids  between  this  cat  and  the  tame  ones." 
The  late  Sir  Oliver  St.  John  was  more  fortunate  with  his  jungle-cat  kittens.  He  obtained 
three  in  Persia.  These  he  reared  till  they  were  three  months  old,  by  which  time  they  became 
so  tame  that  they  would  climb  on  to  his  knees  at  breakfast-time,  and  behave  like  ordinary  kit- 
tens. One  was  killed  by  a  greyhound,  and  another  by  a  scorpion  —  a  curious  fate  for  a  kitten  to 
meet.  The  survivor  then  became  morose  and  ill-tempered,  but  grew  to  be  a  large  and  strong 
animal.  "  Two  English  bull-terriers  of  mine,  which  would  make  short  work  of  the  largest  domes- 
tic cat,  could  do  nothing  against  my  wild  cat,"  says  the  same  writer.  "  In  their  almost  daily 
battles  the  dogs  always  got  the  worst  of  it." 

In  Africa  the  chaus  haunts  the  thick  cover  bordering  the  rivers.  There  it  catches  not  only 
water-fowl,  but  also  fish.  According  to  Messrs.  Nicolls  and  Eglington,  "  its  spoor  may  con- 
stantly be  seen  imprinted  on  the  mud  surrounding  such  pools  in  the  periodical  watercourses  as 
are  constantly  being  dried  up,  and  in  which  fish  may  probably  be  imprisoned  without  chance  of 
escape."  The  chaus  has  for  neighbour  in  Africa  the  beautiful  SERVAL,  a  larger  wild  cat.  This 
species  is  reddish  in  colour,  spotted  on  the  body,  and  striped  on  the  legs.  The  ears  are  long,  but 
not  tufted,  like  those  of  the  lynx.  The  serval  is  more  common  in  North  and  Central  Africa  than 
in  the  South.  But  it  is  also  found  south  of  the  Tropic  of  Capricorn.  Messrs.  Nicolls  and 
Eglington  say  of  it  :  "  Northward  through  South  Central  Africa  it  is  fairly  common.  It  fre- 
quents the  thick  bush  in  the  vicinity  of  rivers.  The  harasses,  or  mantles,  made  from  its  skins 

are  only  worn  by  the  chiefs  and  very 
high  dignitaries  amongst  the  native 
tribes,  and  are  in  consequence  eagerly 
sought  after,  on  which  account  the 
species  tuns  a  risk  of  rapid  extermi- 
nation. Its  usual  prey  consists  of 
the  young  of  the  smaller  antelopes, 
francolins,  and  wild  guinea-fowls,  to 
the  latter  of  which  it  is  a  most 
destructive  enemy  in  the  breeding- 
season.  When  obtained  young,  the 
serval  can  be  tamed  with  little  trouble  ; 
but  it  is  difficult  to  rear,  and  always 
shows  a  singular  and  almost  unac- 

countable aversion  to  black  men.    Its, 

..  ,    . 

otherwise     even     temper    is    always; 

arOUSed      at      the  ..  Sight    of     3.     native.' 


SERVAL 


Phete  tj  Otttmar 


MALE   SERVAL 

The  serval  is  a  link  tenveen  the  leopardi  and  tiger-cats,  quite  large  enough  to  kill  the  young  of  the  smaller  antelopes 

59 


6o 


THE    LIVING    ANIMALS    OF    THE    WORLD 


When  in  anger,  it  is  by  no  means  a  despicable 
antagonist,  and  very  few  dogs  would  like  to 
engage  in  a  combat  with  one  single-handed." 

THE  COMMON  WILD  CAT 

The  WILD  CAT  was  once  fairly  common 
all  over  England.  A  curious  story,  obviously 
exaggerated,  shows  that  traditions  of  its 
ferocity  were  common  at  a  very  early  date. 
The  tale  is  told  of  the  church  of  Barn- 
borough,  in  Yorkshire,  between  Doncaster  and 
Barnsley.  It  is  said  that  a  man  and  a  wild 
cat  met  in  a  wood  near  and  began  to  fight ; 
that  the  cat  drove  the  man  out  of  the  wood 
as  far  as  the  church,  where  he  took  refuge 
in  the  porch ;  and  that  both  the  man  and 
cat  were  so  injured  that  they  died.  Accord- 
ing to  Dr.  Pearce,  the  event  was  formerly 
commemorated  by  a  rude  painting  in  the 
church. 

Mr.  Charles  St.  John  had  an  experience 
with  a  Scotch  wild  cat  very  like  that  which 
General  Douglas  Hamilton  tells  of  the  jungle- 
cat.  He  heard  many  stories  of  their  attack- 
ing and  wounding  men  when  trapped  or 
when  their  escape  was  cut  off,  and  before 
long  found  out  that  these  were  true.  "  I 
was  fishing  in  a  river  in  Sutherland,"  he 
wrote,  "  and  in  passing  from  one  pool  to 
another  had  to  climb  over  some  rocky  ground. 
In  doing  so,  I  sank  almost  up  to  my  knees  in 
some  rotten  heather  and  moss,  almost  upon 
a  wild  cat  which  was  concealed  under  it.  I 
was  quite  as  much  startled  as  the  cat  itself 
could  be,  when  I  saw  the  wild-looking  beast 
rush  so  unexpectedly  from  between  my  feet, 
with  every  hair  on  her  body  on  end,  making 
her  look  twice  as  large  as  she  really  was.  I 
had  three  small  Skye  terriers  with  me,  which  immediately  gave  chase,  and  pursued  her 
till  she  took  refuge  in  a  corner  of  the  rocks,  where,  perched  in  a  kind  of  recess  out  of  reach 
of  her  enemies,  she  stood  with  her  hair  bristled  out,  spitting  and  growling  like  a  common 
cat.  Having  no  weapon  with  me,  I  laid  down  my  rod,  cut  a  good-sized  stick,  and  pro- 
ceeded to  dislodge  her.  As  soon  as  I  was  within  six  or  seven  feet  of  the  place,  she  sprang 
straight  at  my  face  over  the  dogs'  heads.  Had  I  not  struck  her  in  mid-air  as  she  leaped  at  me,  I 
should  probably  have  received  a  severe  wound.  As  it  was,  she  fell  with  her  back  half  broken 
among  the  dogs,  who  with  my  assistance  dispatched  her.  I  never  saw  an  animal  fight  so  desper- 
ately, or  one  which  was  so  difficult  to  kill.  If  a  tame  cat  has  nine  lives,  a  wild  cat  must  have 
a  dozen.  Sometimes  one  of  these  animals  will  take  up  its  residence  at  no  great  distance  from  a 
house,  and,  entering  the  hen-roosts  and  outbuildings,  will  carry  off  fowls  in  the  most  audacious 
manner,  or  even  lambs.  Like  other  vermin,  the  wild  cat  haunts  the  shores  of  lakes  and  rivers, 


Photo  bj  Otttmar  Anscttutx\ 

SERVAL   CLIMBING 

Note  the  active,  cat-like  method  of  climbing 


[Birlin 


THE    CAT    TRIBE 


bi 


and  it  is  therefore  easy  to  know  where  to  set  a  trap  for  them.  Having  caught  and  killed  one  of 
the  colony,  the  rest  of  them  are  sure  to  be  taken  if  the  body  of  their  slain  relative  is  left  in  the 
same  place  not  far  from  their  usual  hunting-ground  and  surrounded  with  traps,  as  every  wild  cat 
passing  that  way  will  to  a  certainty  come  to  it." 

The  wild  cat  ranges  from  the  far  north  of  Scotland,  across  Europe  and  Northern  Asia,  to 
the  northern  slopes  of  the  Himalaya.  It  has  always  been  known  as  one  of  the  fiercest  and  wild- 
est of  the  cats,  large  or  small.  The  continual  ill-temper  of  these  creatures  is  remarkable.  In 
the  experience  of  the  keepers  of  menageries  there  is  no  other  so  intractably  savage.  One  pre- 
sented to  the  Zoological  Gardens  by  Lord  Lilford  some  eight  years  ago  still  snarls  and  spits  at 
any  one  who  comes  near  it,  even  the  keeper. 

The  food  of  the  wild  cat  is  grouse,  mountain-hares,  rabbits,  small  birds,  and  probably  fish 
caught  in  the  shallow  waters  when  chance  offers.  It  is  wholly  nocturnal ;  consequently  no  one 
ever  sees  it  hunting  for  prey.  Though  it  has  long  been  confined  to  the  north  and  northwest  of 
Scotland,  it  is  by  no  means  on  the  verge  of  extinction.  The  deer-forests  are  saving  it  to  some 
extent,  as  they  did  the  golden  eagle.  Grouse  and  hares  are  rather  in  the  way  when  deer  are 
being  stalked  ;  consequently  the  wild  cat  and  the  eagle  are  not  trapped  or  shot.  The  limits  of 
its  present  fastnesses  were  recently  fixed  by  careful  Scotch  naturalists  at  the  line  of  the  Caledo- 
nian Canal.  Mr.  Harvie  Brown,  in  1880,  said  that  it  only  survived  in  Scotland  north  of  a  line 
running  from  Oban  to  the  junction  of  the  three  counties  of  Perth,  Forfar,  and  Aberdeen,  and 
thence  through  Banffshire  to  Inverness.  But  the  conclusion  of  a  writer  in  the  Edinburgh 
Review  of  July,  1898,  in  a  very  interesting  article  on  the  survival  of  British  mammals,  has  been 
happily  contradicted.  He  believed  that  it  only  survived  in  the  deer-forests  of  Inverness  and 
Sutherlandshire.  The  wild  cats  shown  in  the  illustrations  of  these  pages  were  caught  a  year 
later  as  far  south  as  Argyllshire.  The  father  and  two  kittens  were  all  secured,  practically  un- 
hurt, and  purchased  by  Mr.  Percy  Leigh  Pemberton  for  his  collection  of  British  mammals  at 
Ashford,  in  Kent.  This  gentleman  has  had  great  success  in  preserving  his  wild  cats.  They,  as 
well  as  others — martens,  polecats,  and  other  small  carnivora — are  fed  on  fresh  wild  rabbits  killed 
in  a  warren  near ;  consequently  they  are  in  splendid  condition.  The  old  "  torn "  wild  cat, 
snarling  with  characteristic  ill-humour,  was  well  supported  by  the  wild  and  savage  little  kittens, 
which  exhibited  all  the  family  temper.  Shortly  before  the  capture  of  these  wild  cats  another 


By  ptrmtiiitn  •/  Ptrcj  Liigti    Ptmktrttn,  Ely. 

EUROPEAN    WILD    CAT 

The  British  ret>retentaeii/e  of  this  species  is  rapidly  becoming  extinct.       The  ."iccimcn  -white  portrait  is  given  here  -was  caught  in 


THE    LIVING    ANIMALS     OF    THE    WORLD 


litn  of  ftrcy  Lfig*  Ptmhirttn,  Esq. 

SCOTCH    WILD    CATS 

These  -wildcats,  the  property  of  Mr.  P.  Leigh  Pemberton,  though  regularly  fed  andivell  treated,  show  their  natural  bad-temper  in  their  faces 

family  were  trapped  in  Aberdeenshire  and  brought  to  the  Zoological  Gardens.  Four  kittens, 
beautiful  little  savages,  with  bright  green  eyes,  and  uninjured,  were  safely  taken  to  Regent's 
Park.  But  the  quarters  given  them  were  very  small  and  cold,  and  they  all  died.  Two  other 
full-grown  wild  cats  brought  there  a  few  years  earlier  were  so  dreadfully  injured  by  the  abomi- 
nable steel  traps  in  which  they  were  caught  that  they  both  died  of  blood-poisoning. 

The  real  wild  cats  differ  in  their  markings  on  the  body,  some  being  more  clearly  striped, 
while  others  are  only  brindled.  But  they  are  all  alike  in  the  squareness  and  thickness  of  head 
and  body,  and  in  the  short  tail,  ringed  with  black,  and  growing  larger  at  the  tip,  which  ends  off 
like  a  shaving-brush. 

It  may  well  be  asked,  Which  of  the  many  species  of  wild  cats  mentioned  above  is  the  an- 
cestor of  our  domestic  cats  ?  Probably  different  species  in  different  countries.  The  African 
Kaffir  cat,  the  Indian  leopard-cat,  the  rusty-spotted  cat  of  India,  and  the  European  wild  cat  all 
breed  with  tame  cats.  It  is  therefore  probable  that  the  spotted,  striped,  and  brindled  varieties  of 
tame  cats  are  descended  from  wild  species  which  had  those  markings.  The  so-called  red  tame 
cats  are  doubtless  descended  from  the  tiger-coloured  wild  cats.  But  it  is  a  curious  fact  that, 
though  the  spotted  gray-tabby  wild  varieties  are  the  least  common,  that  colour  is  most  frequent 
in  the  tame  species. 

THE   LYNXES 

IN  the  LYNXES  we  seem  to  have  a  less  specially  cat-like  form.  They  are  short-ta.led,  high 
in  the  leg,  and  broad-faced.  Less  active  than  the  leopards  and  tiger-cats,  and  able  to  live  either 
in  very  hot  or  very  cold  countries,  they  are  found  from  the  Persian  deserts  to  the  far  north  of 
Siberia  and  Canada. 

The  CARACAL  is  a  southern,  hot-country  lynx.  It  has  a  longer  tail  than  the  others,  but  the 
same  tufted  ears.  It  seems  a  link  between  the  lynxes  and  the  jungle-cats.  It  is  found  in  India, 
Palestine,  Persia,  and  Mesopotamia.  In  India  it  was  trained,  like  the  cheeta,  to  catch  birds, 


THE    CAT    TRIBE 


gazelles,  and  hares.  The  COMMON  LYNX  is  probably  the  same  animal,  whether  found  in  Norway, 
Russia,  the  Carpathians,  Turkestan,  China,  or  Tibet.  The  CANADIAN  LYNX  is  also  very  probably 
the  same,  with  local  differences  of  colour.  The  NORTHERN  LYNX  is  the  largest  feline  animal  left 
in  Europe,  and  kills  sheep  and  goats  equally  with  hares  and  squirrels.  The  beautiful  fur,  of  pale 
cinnamon  and  light  gray,  is  much  admired.  In  some  southern  districts  of  America  we  have  the 
RED  LYNX,  or  so-called  "  wild  cat,"  which  is  distinct  from  the  lynx  of  Canada.  The  MEDITERRA- 
NEAN or  SPANISH  LYNX  seems  likewise  entitled  to  rank  as  a  distinct  species. 

Of  the  lynxes  the  CARACALS  are  perhaps  the  most  interesting,  from  their  capacity  for  domes- 
tication. They  are  found  in  Africa  in  the  open  desert  country,  whereas  the  SERVAL  is  found  in 
the  thick  bush.  In  Africa  it  is  believed  to  be  the  most  savage  and  untamable  of  the  Cats.  That 
is  probably  because  the  Negro  and  the  Kaffir  never  possessed  the  art  of  training  animals,  from 
the  elephant  downwards.  In  India  the  caracal's  natural  prey  are  the  fawns  of  deer  and  antelope, 
pea-fowl,  hares,  and  floricans.  The  caracal  is  the  quickest  with  its  feet  of  any  of  the  Cats.  One 
of  its  best-known  feats  is  to  spring  up  and  catch  birds  passing  over  on  the  wing  at  a  height  of 
six  or  eight  feet  from  the  ground.  A  writer,  in  the  Naturalist's  Library,  notes  that,  besides  being 
tamed  to  catch  deer,  pea-fowl,  and  cranes,  the  caracal  was  used  in  "  pigeon  matches."  Two 
caracals  were  backed  one  against  the  other  to  kill  pigeons.  The  birds  were  fed  on  the  ground, 
and  the  caracals  suddenly  let  loose  among  them,  to  strike  down  as  many  as  each  could  before 
the  birds  escaped.  Each  would  sometimes  strike  down  with  its  forepaws  ten  or  a  dozen  pigeons. 
"  Caracal"  means  in  Turkish  "  Black  Ear,"  in  allusion  to  the  colour  of  the  animal's  organ  of  hearing. 

The  COMMON  LYNX  is  a  thick-set  animal,  high  in  the  leg,  with  a  square  head  and  very  strong 
paws  and  forearms.  It  is  found  across  the  whole  northern  region  of  Europe  and  Asia. 
Although  never  known  in  Britain  in  historic  times,  it  is  still  occasionally  seen  in  parts  of  the 
Alps  and  in  the  Carpathians ;  it  is  also  common  in  the  Caucasus.  It  is  mainly  a  forest  animal, 
and  very  largely  nocturnal ;  therefore  it  is  seldom  seen,  and  not  often  hunted.  If  any  enemy 
approaches,  the  lynx  lies  perfectly  still  on  some  branch  or  rock,  and  generally  succeeds  in  avoiding 
notice.  The  lynx  is  extremely  active ;  it  can  leap  great  distances,  and  makes  its  attack  usually 


»        «<•> 

Phttt  b)  Ottomar   Anichufx.\ 


[Btrlin 


LYNX 

Thil  animal  it  a  uniformly  coloured  sfecies  common  to  India  and  Africa 


64 


THE    LIVING    ANIMALS    OF    THE    WORLD 


flutt  bj  A,  S.  Rudland  &•  Sons 

EUROPEAN    LYNX 

The  largest  of  the  cat  tribe  left  in  Europe 


in  that  way.  When  traveling,  it  trots 
or  gallops  in  a  very  dog-like  fashion, 
Where  sheep  graze  at  large  on  moun- 
tains, as  in  the  Balkans  and  in  Greece 
the  lynx  is  a  great  enemy  of  the  flocks. 
In  Norway,  where  the  animal  is  now 
very  rare,  there  is  a  tradition  that  it 
is  more  mischievous  than  the  wolf,  and 
a  high  price  is  set  on  its  head. 

In  Siberia  and  North  Russia 
most  of  the  lynx-skins  taken  are 
sold  to  the  Chinese.  The  lynx-skins 
brought  here  are  mainly  those  of  the 
Canadian  species.  The  fur  is  dyed, 
and  used  for  the  busbies  of  the 
officers  in  the  hussar  regiments. 
These  skins  vary  much  in  colour, 
and  in  length  and  quality  of  fur. 
The  price  varies  correspondingly. 
The  Canadian  lynx  lives  mainly  on 
the  wood-hares  and  on  the  wood- 
grouse of  the  North  American  forests.  The  flesh  of  the  lynx  is  said  to  be  good  and  tender. 
Brehm  says  of  the  Siberian  lynx :  "  It  is  a  forest  animal  in  the  strictest  sense  of  the  word. 

But  in  Siberia  it  occurs   only  singly,  and  is  rarely  captured.     Its  true  home  is  in  the  thickest 

parts   in  the   interior  of  the  woods,  and  these  it  probably  never  leaves  except  when  scarcity  of 

food  or  the  calls  of  love  tempt  it  to  wander  to  tl.e  outskirts.     Both  immigrants  and  natives  hold 

the  hunting  of  the  lynx  in  high   esteem.     This  proud   cat's  activity,  caution  and  agility,  and 

powers  of  defense  arouse  the  enthusiasm  of  every  sportsman,  and  both  skin  and  flesh  are  valued, 

the  latter  not  only  by  the  Mongolian  tribes,  but  also  by  the  Russian  hunters.     The  lynx  is 

seldom  captured  in  fall-traps ; 

he  often  renders  them  useless  . 

by  walking  along   the   beam 

and    stepping    on    the    lever, 

and  he  usually  leaps  over  the 

spring-traps  in  his  path.     So 

only   the   rifle   and  dogs  are 

left." 

The  RED  LYNX  is  a  small 

American  variety,  the  coat  of 

which  turns  tawny  in  summer, 

when    it    much    resembles    a 

large  cat.     It  is  called  in  some 

parts  of  the  United  States  the 

Mountain-cat.       This  lynx  is 

30  inches  long    in  the  body, 

with  a  tail  6  inches  long.     It 

is    found    on    the    eastern    or 

Atlantic  side  of  the  continent,  Bf  flrmissitn  tf  Mr  ,.  B.  Gund^ 

and  by  no   means  shuns  the  CANADIAN   LYNX 

neighbourhood  Of  Settlements.  Great  numbers  of  these  are  trapped  every  year  for  the  sake  of  their  fur 


Flute  by  Otttmar  Anichutx]  [Birlin 

CHEETAS 
Cheetas  can  be  distinguiihcd  at  a  glance  from  the  ordinary  leopards  by  the  tolid  black  sfots  upon  the  back  instead  of  the  "  raiettet." 

9  65 


66 


THE    LIVING    ANIMALS    OF    THE    WORLD 


PlHto  by  York  &>  Sen] 

A    CHEETA    HOODED 


[Netting  Hill 


THE   CHEETA 
THE  NON-RETRACTILE-CLAWED  CAT 

THE  CHEETA,  or  Hunting-leopard,  is  the 
only  example  of  this  particular  group,  though 
there  was  an  extinct  form,  whose  remains  are 
found  in  the  Siwalik  Hills,  in  the  north  of 
India.  It  is  a  very  widely  dispersed  animal, 
found  in  Persia,  Turkestan,  and  the  countries 
east  of  the  Caspian,  and  in  India  so  far  as  the 
lowenjpart  of  the  centre  of  the  peninsula.  It 
is  also  common  in  Africa,  where  until  recent 
years  it  was  found  in  Cape  Colony  and  Natal. 
Now  it  is  banished  to  the  Kalahari  Desert, 
the  Northern  Transvaal,  and  Bechuanaland. 

The  cheeta  is  more  dog-like  than  any 
other  cat.  It  stands  high  on  the  leg,  and 
has  a  short,  rounded  head.  Its  fur  is  short 
and  rather  woolly,  its  feet  rounded,  and  its 
claws,  instead  of  slipping  back  into  sheaths 
like  a  lion's,  are  only  partly  retractile. 

Mr.  Lockwood  Kipling  gives  the  follow- 
ing account  of  the  cheeta  and  its  keepers : 
"  The  only  point  where  real  skill  comes  into 
play  in  dealing  with  the  hunting-leopard 
is  in  catching  the  adult  animal  when  it  has 
already  learnt  the  swift,  bounding  onset,  its 
one  accomplishment.  The  young  cheeta  is  not  worth  catching,  for  it  has  not  yet  learnt  its  trade, 
nor  can  it  be  taught  in  captivity.  .  .  .  There  are  certain  trees  where  these  great  dog-cats  (for 
they  have  some  oddly  canine  characteristics)  come  to  play  and  whet  their  claws.  The  hunters  find 
such  a  tree,  and  arrange  nooses  of  deer-sinew  round  it,  and  wait  the  event.  The  animal  comes  and 
is  caught  by  the  leg,  and  it  is  at  this  point  that  the  trouble  begins.  It  is  no  small  achievement  for 
two  or  three  naked,  ill-fed  men  to  secure  so  fierce  a  capture  and  carry  it  home  tied  on  a  cart.  Then 
his  training  begins.  He  is  tied  in  all  directions,  principally  from  a  thick  rope  round  his  loins,  while 
a  hood  fitted  over  his  head  effectually  blinds  him.  He  is  fastened  on  a  strong  cot-bedstead,  and 
the  keepers  and  their  wives  and  families  reduce  him  to  submission  by  starving  him  and  keeping  him 
awake.  His  head  is  made  to  face  the  village  street,  and  for  an  hour  at  a  time,  several  times  a  day, 
his  keepers  make  pretended  rushes  at  him,  and  wave  clothes,  staves,  and  other  articles  in  his  face. 
He  is  talked  to  continually,  and  the  women's  tongues  are  believed  to  be  the  most  effective  of  things 
to  keep  him  awake.  No  created  being  could  withstand  the  effects  of  hunger,  want  of  sleep,  and 
feminine  scolding ;  and  the  poor  cheeta  becomes  piteously,  abjectly  tame.  He  is  taken  out  for  a 
walk  occasionally — if  a  slow  crawl  between  four  attendants,  all  holding  hard,  can  be  called  a  walk— 
and  his  promenades  are  always  through  the  crowded  streets  and  bazaars,  where  the  keepers'  friends 
are  to  be  found  ;  but  the  people  are  rather  pleased  than  otherwise  to  see  the  raja's  cheetas  amongst 
them."  Later,  when  the  creature  is  tamed,  "  the  cheeta's  bedstead  is  like  that  of  the  keeper,  and 
leopard  and  man  are  often  curled  up  under  the  same  blanket!  When  his  bedfellow  is  restless, 
the  keeper  lazily  stretches  out  an  arm  from  his  end  of  the  coat  and  dangles  a  tassel  over  the 
animal's  head,  which  seems  to  soothe  him.  In  the  early  morning  I  have  seen  a  cheeta  sitting  up 
on  his  couch,  a  red  blanket  half  covering  him,  and  his  tasseled  red  hood  awry,  looking  exactly 
like  an  elderly  gentleman  in  a  nightcap,  as  he  yawns  with  the  irresolute  air  of  one  who  is  in  doubt 
whether  to  rise  or  to  turn  in  for  another  nap." 


Tht  cheeta  is  not  unhooded  until  fairly  near  his  ouarry,  ivhen  he  is  given 
a  sight  of  the  game,  and  a  splendid  race  ensues 


THE    CAT    TRIBE 


67 


This  charming  and  accurate  description  shows  the  cheeta  at  home.  In  the  field  he  is  quite 
another  creature.  He  is  driven  as  near  as  possible  to  the  game,  and  then  unhooded  and  given  a 
sight  of  them.  Sir  Samuel  Baker  thus  describes  a  hunt  in  which  a  cheeta  was  used  :  "  The  chase 
began  after  the  right-hand  buck,  which  had  a  start  of  about  1 10  yards.  It  was  a  magnificent  sight 
to  see  the  extraordinary  speed  of  pursuer  and  pursued.  The  buck  flew  over  the  level  surface, 
followed  by  the  cheeta,  which  was  laying  out  at  full  stretch,  with  its  long,  thick  tail  brandishing 
in  the  air.  They  had  run  200  yards,  when  the  keeper  gave  the  word,  and  away  we  went  as  fast 
as  our  horses  could  carry  us.  The  horses  could  go  over  this  clear  ground,  where  no  danger  of  a 
fall  seemed  possible.  I  never  saw  anything  to  equal  the  speed  of  the  buck  and  the  cheeta  ;  we 
were  literally  nowhere,  although  we  were  going  as  hard  as  horse-flesh  could  carry  us  ;  but  we  had 
a  glorious  view.  The  cheeta  was  gaining  in  the  course,  while  the  buck  was  exerting  every  muscle 
for  life  or  death  in  its  last  race.  Presently,  after  a  course  of  about  a  quarter  of  a  mile,  the  buck 
doubled  like  a  hare,  and  the  cheeta  lost  ground  as  it  shot  ahead,  instead  of  turning  quickly,  being 
only  about  thirty  yards  in  rear  of  the  buck.  Recovering  itself,  it  turned  on  extra  steam,  and  the 
race  appeared  to  recommence  at  increased  speed.  The  cheeta  was  determined  to  win,  and  at  this 
moment  the  buck  made  another  double  in  the  hope  of  shaking  off  its  terrible  pursuer  ;  but  this 
time  the  cheeta  ran  cunning,  and  was  aware  of  the  former  game.  It  turned  as  sharply  as  the 
buck.  Gathering  itself  together  for  a  final  effort,  it  shot  forward  like  an  arrow,  picked  up  the 
distance  which  remained  between  them,  and  in  a  cloud  of  dust  we  could  for  one  moment  distin- 
guish two  forms.  The  next  instant  the  buck  was  on  its  back,  and  the  cheeta's  fangs  were  fixed 
like  an  iron  vice  in  its  throat.  The  course  run  was  about  600  yards,  and  it  was  worth  a  special 
voyage  to  India  to  see  that  hunt." 


Phcti  by  Otttmar  jlnichufx."] 


IBirlin 


A    CHEETA    ON    THE    LOOK-OUT 

Chtetai  are  common  to  Africa  and  India.      By  the  native  princet  of  the  latter  country  they  are  much  used  for  taking  ante/of  e  and  other  game 


68 


THE    LIVING    ANIMALS    OF    THE    WORLD 


Phot,  bf  r.  Fall]  \Ba\,r  Strttt 

WHITE   SHORT-HAIRED 

Most  white  cats  are  not  albinoes — that  is  to  say,  they  Aa-ve  ordinarily 
coloured  and  not  red  eyes 


THE    DOMESTIC   CAT 
BY  Louis  WAIN 

OF  the  domestication  of  the  cat  we  know 
very  little,  but  it  is  recorded  that  a  tribe  of  cats 
was  trained  to  retrieve — i.e.,  to  fetch  and  carry 
game.  In  our  own  time  I  have  seen  many  cats 
fetch  and  carry  corks  and  newspapers,  and  on 
one  occasion  pounce  upon  a  small  roach  at  the 
end  of  a  line  and  place  it  at  its  owner's  feet. 
Gamekeepers  whom  I  have  known  agree  that, 
for  cunning,  craftiness,  and  tenacity  in  attain- 
ing an  object,  the  semi-wild  cat  of  the  woods 
shows  far  superior  intelligence  to  the  rest  of  the 
woodland  denizens.  It  is  quite  a  usual  thing  to 
hear  of  farm  cats  entering  upon  a  snake-hunt- 
ing expedition  with  the  greatest  glee,  and 
showing  remarkable  readiness  in  pitching  upon  their  quarry  and  pinning  it  down  until  secured. 
These  farm  cats  are  quite  a  race  by  themselves.  Of  decided  sporting  proclivities,  they  roam  the 
countryside  with  considerable  fierceness,  and  yet  revert  to  the  domesticity  of  the  farmhouse  fire- 
side as  though  innocent  of  roving  instincts.  They  are  spasmodic  to  a  degree  in  their  mode  of  life, 
and  apparently  work  out  one  mood  before  entering  upon  another.  It  will  be  remembered  that 
this  spasmodic  tendency — the  true  feline  independence,  by  the  bye — is  and  has  been  characteristic 
of  the  cat  throughout  its  history,  and  any  one  who  has  tried  to  overcome  it  has  met  with  failure. 
Watch  your  own  cat,  and  you  will  see  that  he  will  change  his  sleeping-quarters  periodically  ; 
and  if  he  can  find  a  newspaper  conveniently  placed,  he  will  prefer  it  to  lie  upon,  before  anything 
perhaps,  except  a  cane-bottomed  chair,  to  which  all  cats  are  very  partial.  If  you  keep  a  number 
of  cats,  as  I  do,  you  will  find  that  they  are  very  imitative,  and  what  one  gets  in  the  habit  of  doing 
they  will  all  do  in  time  :  for  instance,  one  of  my  cats  took  to  sitting  with  his  front  paws  inside  my 
tall  hat  and  his  body  outside,  and  this  has  become  a  catty  fashion  in  the  family,  whether  the  object 
be  a  hat,  cap,  bonnet,  small  basket,  box,  or  tin.  If  by  chance  one  of  the  cats  is  attacked  by  a 
dog,  a  peculiar  cry  from  the  aggrieved  animal  will  immediately  awaken  the  others  out  of  their 
lethargy  or  sleep,  and  bring  them  fiercely  to  the  rescue.  They 
are,  too,  particularly  kind  and  nice  to  the  old  cat,  and  are 
tolerant  only  of  strange  baby  kittens  and  very  old  cats  in  the 
garden  as  long  as  they  do  not  interfere  with  the 
"catty"  subject.  The  same  quality  obtains  in  Spain 
or  Portugal,  where  a  race  of  scavenging  cats 
exists,  which  go  about  in  droves  or  families, 
and  are  equal  to  climbing  straight  walls, 
big  trees,  chimneys,  and  moun- 
tainsides. Long,  lanky,  and 
thin,  they  are  built  more  on  the 
lines  of  a  greyhound  than  the 
ordinary  cat,  and  are  more  easily 
trained  in  tricks  than  home  cats. 
The  TORTOISESHELL  has  long 
been  looked  upon  as  the  national 
cat  of  Spain,  and  in  fact  that 
country  is  overrun  with  the 
breed,  ranging  from  a  dense  ri»»br.Fau\  [*->«•  *« 

LONG-HAIRED    WHITE 
White  tats  with  blue  eyes  are  generally  deaf,  or  at  all  events  hard  of  hearing 


Phttc  by  f  ratlin  Alinarl,  Fltrinct 

MACKEREL-MARKED  TABBY 


Phcttkj  L.  Midland,  F.Z.S.,  Ntrth  Finchly 

CAT    CARRYING    KITTEN 


Tatties  are  probably  the  best  known  and  the  A  unique  photograph,   showing  the  -way  in 


commonest  cats 


•which  the  cat  carries  its  young 


Phitt  by  E.  Lander,  Eating 

BLUE    LONG-HAIRED,  OR 
PERSIAN 

Persian  or  long-haired  cats  are  of  •variout 
colours  }  this  is  one  of  the  least  common 


By  firmiuion  of  Lady  Altxandir 

ORANGE   TABBY 

A  champion  "winner  of  go  first  prixes 


Phut  by  E.  Landtr,  F.aling 

SMOKE   AND    BLUE   LONG-HAIRED 

Tivo  pretty  and  "valuable  Persian  kittens 


Phata  by  E.  Lander,  Eating 

LONG-HAIRED    TABBY 
A  pretty  pose 


Phut  by  E.  Landtr,  Ealing 

SILVER    PERSIAN 

A  handsome  specimen 

6Q 


Photc  h  E.  Landtr,  Eating 

SMOKE   LONG-HAIRED,    OR 
PERSIAN 

A  new  breed 


THE     LIVING    ANIMALS    OF    THE    WORLD 


SHORT-HAIRED    BLUE 

This  champion  cat  belongs  to  Lady  Alexander,  by  tvhou 
kind  permission  it  is  here  reproduced 


black  and  brown  to' lighter  shades  of  orange  brown 
and  white.  The  pure  tortoiseshell  might  be  called  a 
black  and  tan,  with  no  white,  streaked  like  a  tortoise- 
shell  cojnb  if  possible,  and  with  wonderful  amber  eyes. 
It  is  characteristic  of  their  intelligence  that  they  will 
invariably  find  their  way  home,  and  will  even  bring 
that  mysterious  instinct  to  bear  which  guides  them 
back  long  distances  to  the  place  of  their  birth ;  and, 
with  regard  to  this  cat,  the  stories  of  almost  impossible 
journeys  made  are  not  one  bit  exaggerated.  The  tom- 
cats of  this  breed  are  very  rare  in  England ;  I  myself 
have  only  known  of  the  existence  of  six  in  fifteen  years, 
and  of  these  but  three  are  recorded  in  the  catalogues  of 
the  cat  shows. 

The  BLACK  CAT  has  many  of  the  characteristics 
of  the  tortoiseshell,  but  is  essentially  a  town  cat,  and 
is  wont  to  dream  his  life  away  in  shady  corners,  in 

underground  cellars,  in  theatres,  and  in  all  places  where  he  can,  in  fact,  retire  to  monastic  quiet. 
The  black  cat  of  St.  Clement  Danes  Church  was  one  of  the  remarkable  cats  of  London.  It 
was  his  wont  to  climb  on  to  the  top  of  the  organ-pipes  and  enjoy  an  occasional  musical  concert 
alone.  A  christening  or  a  wedding  was  his  pride ;  and  many  people  can  vouch  for  a  lucky 
wedding  who  had  the  good-fortune  to  be  patronised  by  the  black  cat  of  St.  Clement  Danes, 
which  walked  solemnly  down  the  aisle  of  the  church  in  front  of  the  happy  couples. 

My  old  pet  Peter  was  a  black-and-white  cat,  and,  like  most  of  his  kind,  was  one  of  the  most 
remarkable  cats  for  intelligence  I  have  ever  known.  A  recital  of  his  accomplishments  would, 
however,  have  very  few  believers — a  fact  I  find  existing  in  regard  to  all  really  intelligent  cats. 
There  are  so  many  cats  of  an  opposite  character,  and  people  will  rarely  take  more  than  a 
momentary  trouble  to  win  the  finer  nature  of  an  animal  into  existence.  Suffice  it  to  say,  that 
Peter  would  lie  and  die,  sit  up  with  spectacles  on  his  nose  and  with  a  post-card  between  his  paws 
— a  trick  I  have  taught  many  people's  cats  to  do.  He  would  also  mew  silent  meows  when  bid, 
and  wait  at  the  door  for  my  home-coming.  For  a  long  time,  too,  it  was  customary  to  hear 
weird  footfalls  at  night  outside  the  bedroom  doors,  and  visitors  to  the  house  were  a  little  more 
superstitious  as  to  their  cause  than  we  were  ourselves.  We  set  a  watch  upon  the  supposed 
ghost,  but  sudden  opening  of  the  doors  discovered  only  the  mystic  form  of  Peter  sitting  purring 
on  the  stairs.  He  was,  however,  ultimately  caught  in  the  act  of  lifting  the  corner  of  the  door- 
rug  and  letting  it  fall  back  in  its  place,  and  he  had  grown  quite  expert  in  his  method  of  raising 

and  dropping  it  at  regular  intervals  until  he 
heard  that  his  signals  had  produced  the  required 
effect,  and  the  door  was  opened  to  admit  him. 

WHITE  CATS  I  might  call  musical  cats,  for 
it  is  quite  characteristic  of  the  albinoes  that 
noises  rarely  startle  them  out  of  their  simpering, 
loving  moods.  The  scraping  of  a  violin,  which 
will  scare  an  ordinary  cat  out  of  its  senses,  or 
the  thumping  of  a  piano,  which  would  terrorise 
even  strong-nerved  cats,  would  only  incite  a 
white  cat  to  a  happier  mood.  Certainly  all  white 
cats  are  somewhat  deaf,  or  lack  acute  quality  of 
senses ;  but  this  failing  rather  softens  the  feline 
nature  than  becomes  dominant  as  a  weakness. 


fhctv  by  T.  Fall] 


SILVER    TABBY 

A  beautiful  -variety  of  a  typical  cat 


{Baktr  Strut 


THE    CAT    TRIBE 


SHORT-HAIRED    TABBY 

This  is  perhaps  the  most  fatnoui  cat  notu  living.      It  hat  won  no  leis  than  200  prizes 


The  nearest  to  perfection 

perhaps,  and  yet  at  the  same 

time  extremely  soft  and  finely 

made,  is  the  BLUE  CAT,  rare 

in  England  as  an  English  cat, 

but   common   in   most  other 

countries,     and      called      in 

America  the  Maltese  Cat — for 

fashion's  sake  probably,  since 

it   is    too    widely    distributed 

there  to   be   localised   as    of 

foreign  origin.      It  is  out  in 

the     mining     districts     and 

agricultural      quarters,     right 

away  from  the  beaten  tracks 

of  humanity,  where  the  most 

wonderful      breeds      of     cats 

develop     in     America ;     and 

caravan  showmen  have  told  me  that  at  one  time  it  was  quite  a  business  for  them  to  carry  cats 

into  these   wildernesses,  and  sell  them  to  rough,  hardy  miners,  who  dealt  out  death  to  each 

other  without   hesitation   in   a   quarrel,   but   who  softened  to  the  appeal  of  an  animal  which 

reminded  them  of  homelier  times. 

One  man  told  me  that  upon  one  occasion  he  sold  eight  cats  at  an  isolated  mining  township 

in  Colorado,  and  some  six  days'  journey  farther  on  he  was  caught  up  by  a  man  on  horseback 

from  the  township,  who  had  ridden  hard  to  overtake  the  menagerie  caravan,  with  the  news  that 

one  of  the  cats  had  climbed  a  monster  pine-tree,  and  that  all  the  other  cats  had  followed  in  his 

wake ;  food  and  drink  had  been  placed  in  plenty  at  the  foot  of  the  tree,  but  that  the  cats  had 

been  starving,  frightened  out  of  their  senses,  for  three  days,  and  despite  all  attempts  to  reach 

them  they  had  only  climbed  higher  and  higher  out  of  reach  into  the  uppermost  and  most 

dangerous  branches  of  the  pine.  The  showman  hastened 
with  his  guide  across  country  to  the  township,  only  to 
find  that  in  the  interval  one  bright  specimen  of  a  man 
belonging  to  the  village  had  suggested  felling  the  tree 
and  so  rescuing  the  cats  from  the  pangs  of  absolute 
starvation,  should  they  survive  the  ordeal.  A  dynamite 
cartridge  had  been  used  to  blast  the  roots  of  the  pine, 
and  a  rope  attached  to  its  trunk  had  done  the  rest  and 
brought  the  monster  tree  to  earth,  only,  however,  at  the 
expense  of  all  the  cats,  for  not  one  survived  the 
tremendous  fall  and  shaking.  A  sad  and  tearful  pro- 
cession followed  the  remains  of  the  cats  to  their  hastily 
dug  grave,  and  thereafter  a  bull  mastiff  took  the  place 
of  the  cats  in  the  township,  an  animal  more  in  character 
with  the  lives  of  its  inhabitants. 

Analogous  to  this  case  of  the  traveling  menageries, 
we  have  the  great  variety  of  blues,  silvers,  and  whites 
which  are  characteristic  of  Russia.  There  is  a  vast  table- 
land of  many  thousands  of  miles  in  extent,  intersected  by 
caravan  routes  to  all  the  old  countries  of  the  ancients, 
and  it  is  not  astonishing  to  hear  of  attempts  being  made 


LONG-HAIRED    ORANGE 

A  good  tpecimen  of  this  "variety  is  always  large  and 
finely  furred 


72  THE    LIVING    ANIMALS    OF    THE     WORLD 


Phot,  by  C.  Riid]  [trishaw,  N.  B. 

MANX 

These  tailless  cats  are  "well  known;  they  were  formerly  called 
"  Cornwall  ca«."  Note  the  length  of  the  hind  le^s,  -which  is  one 
of  the  characteristics  of  this  -variety  of  the  domestic  cat 


Photo  by  E.  Landor] 


[Ealing 


SIAMESE 


These  strikingly  coloured  cats  are  no-w  fairly  numerous,  but  com- 
mand high  prices.  They  ha-ve  white  kittens,  which  subsequently 
become  coloured 


to  steal  the  wonderful  cats  of  Persia,  China,  and  Northern  India,  as  well  as  those  of  the 
many  dependent  and  independent  tribes  which  bound  the  Russian  kingdom.  But  it  is  a 
remarkable  fact  that  none  but  the  blues  can  live  in  the  attenuated  atmosphere  of  the  higher 
mountainous  districts  through  which  they  are  taken  before  arriving  in  Russian  territory.  It  is 
no  uncommon  thing  to  find  a  wonderful  complexity  of  blue  cats  shading  to  silver  and  white  in 
most  Russian  villages,  or  blue  cats  of  remarkable  beauty,  but  with  a  dash  of  tabby-marking 
running  through  their  coats.  Their  life,  too,  is  lived  at  the  two  extremes.  In  the  short  Russian 
summer  they  roam  the  woodlands,  pestered  by  a  hundred  poisonous  insects  ;  in  the  winter  they 
are  imprisoned  within  the  four  walls  of  a  snow-covered  cottage,  and  are  bound  down  prisoners  to 
domesticity  till  the  thaw  sets  in  again.  Many  of  the  beautiful  furs  which  come  to  us  from  Russia 
are  really  the  skins  of  these  cats,  the  preparation  of  which  for  market  has  grown  into  a  large 
and  thriving  industry.  The  country  about  Kronstadt,  in  the  Southern  Carpathian  Mountains 
of  Austria,  is  famous  for  its  finely  developed  animals  ;  and  here,  too,  has  grown  up  a  colony  of 
sable-coloured  cats,  said  to  be  of  Turkish  origin,  where  the  pariahs  take  the  place  of  cats. 

The  TABBY  is  remarkable  to  us  in  that  it  is  characteristic  of  our  own  country,  and  no  other 
colour  seems  to  have  been  popular  until  our  own  times.  If  you  ask  any  one  which  breed  of 
cat  is  the  real  domestic  cat,  you  will  be  told  the  tabby,  probably  because  it  is  so  well  known  to 
all.  The  complexity  of  the  tabby  is  really  remarkable,  and  for  shape  and  variety  of  colouring 
it  has  no  equal  in  any  other  tribe  of  cat.  It  has  comprised  in  its  nature  all  the  really  great 
qualities  of  the  feline,  and  all  its  worst  attributes.  You  can  truthfully  say  of  one  of  its 


UE   LONG-HAIRED,    OR    PERSIAN 

This  cat  belonged  to  S^ueen  Victoria 


SILVER    PERSIANS 

Three  of  Mrs.  Champion's  celebrated  cati 


THE     CAT    TRIBE 


73 


Phot,  by  F..  Landor]  [Eating 

LONG-HAIRED    CHINCHILLA 

Note  the  beautiful  "fluffiness"  of  thii  cat's  fur 


specimens  that  it  attaches  itself  to  the  indi- 
vidual, while  of  another  in  the  same  litter  you 
will  get  an  element  of  wildness.  A  third  of  the 
same  parents  will  sober  down  to  the  house, 
but  take  only  a  passing  notice  of  people.  You 
can  teach  it  anything  if  it  is  tractable,  make  it 
follow  like  a  dog,  come  to  whistle,  but  it  will 
have  its  independence. 

The  SAND-COLOURED  CAT,  with  a  whole- 
coloured  coat  like  the  rabbit,  which  we  know 
as  the  ABYSSINIAN  or  BUNNY  CAT,  is  a  strong 
African  type.  On  the  Gold  Coast  it  comes 
down  from  the  inland  country  with  its  ears  all 
bitten  and  torn  away  in  its  fights  with  rivals. 
It  has  been  acclimatised  in  England,  and  Devon- 
shire and  Cornwall  have  both  established  a  new 

and  distinct  tribe  out  of  its  parentage.     The  MANX  CAT  is  nearly  allied  to  it,  and  a  hundred 

years  ago  the  tailless  cat  was  called  the  Cornwall  Cat,  not  the  Manx. 

Siam  sends  us  a  regal  aminal  in  the  SIAMESE  ROYAL  CAT  ;  it  has  a  brown  face,  legs,  and  tail, 

a  cream-coloured  body,  and  mauve  or  blue  eyes.     The  Siamese  take  great  care  of  their  cats,  for 

it  is  believed  that  the  souls  of  the  departed  are  transmitted  into  the  bodies  of  animals,  and  the 

cat  is  a  favourite  of  their  creed ;  consequently  the  cats  are  highly  cultivated  and  intelligent,  and 

can  think  out  ways  and  means  to  attain  an  end. 

I  have  tried  for  years  to  trace  the  origin  of  the  LONG-HAIRED  or  PERSIAN  CATS,  but  I  cannot 

find  that  they  were  known  to  antiquity,  and  even  the  records  of  later  times  only  mention  the 

SHORT-HAIRED.     European  literature  does  not  give  us  an  insight  into  the  subject;  and  unless 

Chinese  history  holds  some  hidden 

lights  in  its  records,  we  are  thrown 

back  upon  the  myths  of  Persia  to 

account  for  the  wonderful  modern 

contribution  of  the  long-haired  cat, 

which    is   gradually  breeding  out 

into  as  many  varieties  as  the  short- 
haired,  with  this  difference — that 

greater  care  and  trouble  are  taken 

over  the  long-haired,  and  they  will, 

as  a  breed,  probably  soon  surpass 

the   short-haired    for   intelligence 

and  culture. 

One  variety  is  quite  new  and 

distinctive — the     SMOKE     LONG- 
HAIRED, whose  dark  brown  or  black 

surface-coat,  blown  aside,  shows  an 

under  coat  of  blue  and  silver,  with 

a  light  brown  frill  round  its  neck. 

All    the     other   long-haired   cats 

can    pair    with    the   short-haired        ' *'" h  "•  Tr""r  7""> 

for  colouring  and  marking,  but  I     ™E   "BUN"    OR   -TICKED"    SHORT-HAIRED   CAT 

Ian  n  one  of  the  rarest  of  cats.      It  belong*  to  Miss  K.  Maud  Bennett  who  has  kindly 

have  not  yet  seen  a  BUNNY  LONG-  had  it  photographed  for  this  -work 

HAIRED. 


CHAPTER     I  II 

THE   FOSSA,    CIVETS,   AND   ICHNEUMONS 


I 


rn~.lt  e,  y>.  S.  kudlanj  &>  Sons 

FOSSA 

The  only  feline  animal  of  Madagascar 


THE   FOSSA 

N  the  FOSSA  Madagascar 
possesses  an  altogether 
peculiar  animal.  It  is  a 
very  slender,  active  creature, 
with  all  its  proportions  much 
elongated.  It  is  of  a  bright 
bay  uniform  colour,  with  thick 
fur,  and  has  sharp  retractile 
claws.  It  has  been  described 
as  the  natural  connecting  link 
between  the  Civets  and  the 
Cats,  anatomically  speaking. 
Thus  it  has  retractile  claws, 
but  does  not  walk  on  its  toes, 
like  cats,  but  on  the  soles  of 
its  feet  (the  hind  pair  of  which 
is  quite  naked),  like  a  civet. 
Very  few  have  been  brought 

to  captivity ;   indeed,  the  first  time  that  one  was  exhibited  in  the  Zoological  Gardens  was  only 

ten  years  ago.     Formerly  stories  were  told  of  its  ferocity,  which  was  compared  to  that  of  the 

tiger.     These  tales  were  naturally  the  subject  of  ridicule.     The  fossa  usually  attains  a  length  of 

about  5  feet  from  snout  to  tail,  and  is  the  largest  of  the  carnivora  of  Madagascar.     A  fine  young 

specimen  lately  brought  to  London,  and  in  the  Zoological  Gardens  at  the  time  of  writing,  is  now 

probably  full  grown.      It  is  about  the  same 

length  and  height  as  a  large  ocelot,  but  with  a 

far  longer  tail,  and  is  more  slenderly  built.    The 

extreme  activity  of  the  fossa  no  doubt  renders 

it  a  very  formidable  foe  to  other  and  weaker 

creatures.     It  has  been  described  by  a  recent 

writer  as  being  entirely  nocturnal,  and  preying 

mainly  on  the  lemurs  and  birds  which  haunt 

the  forests  of  Madagascar.     The  animal  kept  at 

the  Zoological  Gardens  has  become  fairly  tame. 

It  is  fed  mainly  on  chickens'  heads  and  other 

refuse  from  poulterers'  shops.     Apparently  it 

has  no  voice  of  any  kind.     It  neither  growls, 

roars,  nor   mews,  though,  when    irritated    or 

frightened,  it  gives  a  kind  of  hiss  like  a  cat. 


74 


Phot,  by  L.  Midland,  F.Z.S.]  tNorth  FinM>' 

LARGE   INDIAN    CIVET 

Civets  are  nocturnal  in  their  habiti.      That  shown  here  Aasjuit 
awakened  in  broad  daylight 


THE    FOSSA,    CIVETS,    AND    ICHNEUMONS         75 


THE    CIVETS    AND   GENETS 

THE  CIVETS  are  the  first  marked  deviation  from  the  Cat  Family.  Their  bodies  are  elongated, 
their  legs  short,  their  claws  only  partially  retractile.  Some  of  them  have  glands  holding  a  strong 
scent,  much  esteemed  in  old  days  in  Europe,  when  "  The  Civet  Cat  "  was  a  common  inn-sign 
even  in  England.  The  civets  are  generally  beautifully  marked  with  black  stripes  and  bands  on 
gray.  But  none  of  them  grow  to  any  large  size,  and  the  family  has  never  had  the  importance 
of  those  which  contain  the  large  carnivora,  like  the  true  cats  or  bears.  Many  of  the  tribe  and  its 
connections  are  domesticated.  Some  scholars  have  maintained  that  the  cat  of  the  ancient  Greeks 
was  one  of  then — the  common  genet.  The  fact  is  that  both  this  and  the  domestic  cat  were  kept 
by  the  ancients  ;  and  the  genet  is  still  used  as  a  cat  by  the  peasants  of  Greece  and  Southern  Italy. 

The  AFRICAN  CIVET  and  INDIAN  CIVET  are  large  species.  The  former  is  common  almost 
throughout  Africa.  Neither  of  them  seems  to  climb  trees,  but  they  find  abundance  of  food  by 
catching  small  ground-dwelling  animals  and  birds.  They  are  good  swimmers.  The  Indian  civet 
has  a  handsome  skin,  of  a  beautiful  gray  ground-colour,  with  black  collar  and  markings.  It  is 
from  these  civets  that  the  civet-scent  is  obtained.  They  are  kept  in  cages  for  this  purpose,  and 
the  secretion  is  scooped  from  the  glands  with  a  wooden  spoon.  They  produce  three  or  four  kit- 
tens in  May  or  June.  Several  other  species  very  little  differing  from  these  are  known  as  the 
MALABAR,  JAVAN,  and  BURMESE  CIVETS. 

The  RASSE  is  smaller,  has  no  erectile  crest,  and  its  geographical  distribution  extends  from 
Africa  to  the  Far  East.  It  is  commonly  kept  as  a  domestic  pet.  Like  all  the  civets,  it  will  eat 
fruit  and  vegetables. 

The  GENETS,  though  resembling  the  civets,  have  no  scent-pouch.  They  are  African  creatures, 
but  are  found  in  Italy,  Spain,  and  Greece,  and  in  Palestine,  and  even  in  the  south  of  France. 
Beautifully  spotted  or  striped,  they  are  even  longer  and  lower  than  the  civet-cats,  and  steal 
through  the  grass  like  weasels. 

The  COMMON  GENET  is  black  and  gray,  the  latter  being  the  ground-colour.  The  tail  is  very- 
long,  the  length  being  about  15  inches,  while  that  of  the  body  and  head  is  only  19  inches. 
Small  rodents,  snakes,  eggs  and  birds  are  its  principal  food.  It  is  kept  in  Southern  Europe  for 


Photo  bj  A.  S.  Rudland  &•  Sons 

AFRICAN    CIVET 

This  is  one  of  the  largest  of  the  G-vct  Tribe.       The  perfume  knoiun  as  "  civet  "  Is  obtained  from  it 


76 


THE    LIVING    ANIMALS    OF    THE    WORLD 


Phttt  kj  StMastic  Pluto.  Co.]  \_Panon '}  Gritn 

AFRICAN    CIVET 

This  photograph  shows  the  finely  marked  fur  of  the  specie*  and  the  front  view  of  the  head 


killing  rats.  Several  other 
very  similar  forms  are  found  in 
Africa.  The  presence  of  such 
a  very  Oriental-looking  ani- 
mal in  Europe  is  something 
of  a  surprise,  though  many 
persons  forget  that  our  South 
European  animals  are  very 
like  those  of  Africa  and  the 
East.  The  porcupine,  which 
is  common  in  Italy  and  Spain, 
and  the  lynx  and  Barbary  ape 
are  instances.  A  tame  genet 
kept  by  an  acquaintance  of  the 
writer  in  Italy  was  absolutely 
domesticated  like  a  tame 
mongoose.  It  had  very  pretty 

fur,  gray,  marbled  and  spotted  with  black,  and  no  disagreeable  odour,  except  a  scent  of  musk. 

It  was  a  most  active  little  creature,  full  of  curiosity,  and  always  anxious  to  explore  not  only 

every  room,  but  every  cupboard  and  drawer  in  the  house.     Perhaps  this  was  due  to  its  keenness 

in  hunting  mice,  a  sport  of  which  it  never  tired.     It  did  not  play  with  the  mice  when  caught  as 

a  cat  does,  but  ate  them  at  once. 

The  LINSANGS,  an  allied  group,  are  met  with  in  the  East,  from  India  to  Borneo  and  Ja 

They  are  more  slender  than  the  genets,  and  more  arboreal.     Of  the  NEPALESE  LINSANG  Hodgson 

writes  :  "  This  animal  is  equally  at  home  on  trees  and  on  the  ground.     It  breeds  and  dwells  in 

the  hollows  of  decaying  trees.     It  is  not  gregarious,  and  preys  mainly  on  living  animals."     A 

tame  female  owned  by  him  is  stated  to  have  been  wonderfully  docile  and  tractable,  very  sensitive 

to  cold,  and  very  fond  of  being  petted.     There  is  an  allied  West  African  species. 

The  PALM-CIVETS  and  HEMIGALES  still  further  increase  this  numerous  tribe.     Slight  difife 

ences  of    skull,  of  the  markings  of  the  tail,  which  may  only  have  rings  on  the  base,  and  of 

foot  and  tail,  are  the  naturalist's  guide  to  their  separation  from  the  other  civets  ;    HARDWICKE 

HEMIGALE   has    more   zebra-like  markings.     Borneo, 

Africa,  India,  and  the  Himalaya   all   produce   these 

active  little  carnivora  ;  but  the  typical  palm-civets  are 

Oriental      They  are  sometimes  known  as  Toddy-cats, 

because  they  drink  the  toddy  from  the  jars  fastened  to 

catch  the  juice.     The  groves  of  cocoanut-palm  are  their 

favourite  haunts  ;  but  they  will  make  a  home  in  holes  in 

the  thatched  roofs  of  houses,  and  even   in  the  midst 

of  cities.     There  are  many  species  in  the  group. 

The    BINTURONG    is    another    omnivorous,   tree- 

haunting   animal    allied    to    the  civets;    but  it  has  a 

prehensile  tail,  which  few  other  mammals  of  the  Old 

World   possess.      It   is  a  blunt-nosed,  heavy  animal, 

sometimes  called  the  Bear-cat.     Very  little  is  known 

of  its  habits.     It  is  found  from  the  Eastern  Himalaya 

to  Java. 

The  last  of  the  Civet  Family  is  BENNETT'S  CIVET, 

the   only   instance   of  a  cat-like  animal  with   partly 

webbed  feet.     Found  in  the  Malay  Peninsula  and  in 


PJ"""''f  L-  M'dland>  F-z-s-l  [*•"*  rinM>J 

SUMATRAN   CIVET 

AmM  ""*  ^'* 


THE    FOSSA,    CIVETS,    AND    ICHNEUMONS        77 

Sumatra  and  Borneo,  it  is  very  rare,  but  is  known  to  feed  on  fish  and  Crustacea,  and  to  be  semi- 
aquatic.  The  author  of  the  chapter  on  the  civets  in  the  Naturalist's  Library  says,  "  It  may  be 
likened  to  a  climbing  otter." 

THE    MONGOOSE    AND    ICHNEUMON   FAMILY 

THESE  are  a  numerous  and  useful  race  of  small  mammals,  feeding  mainly  on  the  creatures 
most  annoying  to  man  within  tropical  countries.  Snakes,  the  eggs  of  the  crocodile,  large  lizard, 
rats,  mice,  and  other  creatures  known  generally  as  "  vermin,"  are  their  favourite  food.  It  must 
be  added  that,  though  they  are  most  useful  in  destroying  these,  they  also  kill  all  kinds  of  birds, 
and  that  their  introduction  into  some  of  the  West  India  Islands,  for  the  purpose  of  killing  rats, 
has  been  fatal  to  the  indigenous  bird  life. 

THE  INDIAN  MONGOOSE 
This  universal  favourite  is  one  of  the  largest,  the  head  and  body  being  from  15  to  18  inches 


Phttt  hj  A.  S.  Rudland  &>  Sent 

GENET 

The  genets  arc  smaller  than  some  civets,  but  allied  to  them.      One  was  anciently  domesticated  Hike  a  cat 

long,  and  the  tail  14  inches.  The  fur  is  loose  and  long,  and  capable  of  being  erected.  As  in  all 
the  tribe,  the  tint  is  a  "  pepper  and  salt,"  the  "  pepper  "  colour  being  sometimes  blackish  and 
sometimes  red,  but  a  speckled  appearance  characterises  the  whole  group.  This  is  the  animal 
supposed  to  be  immune  from  snake-bite.  It  is  possibly  so  to  some  extent,  for  it  kills  and  eats 
the  poisonous  snakes,  and  it  is  now  known  that  the  eating  of  snake-poison  tends  to  give  the 
same  protection  as  inoculation  does  against  certain  diseases.  But  it  is  certain  that  in  most  cases 
the  mongoose,  by  its  activity,  and  by  setting  up  the  hair  on  its  body,  which  makes  the  snake 
"  strike  short,"  saves  itself  from  being  bitten. 

Many  descriptions  of  the  encounters  between  these  brave  little  animals  and  the  cobra  have 
been  written.  Here  is  one  of  the  less  known :  "  One  of  our  officers  had  a  tame  mongoose,  a 
charming  little  pet.  Whenever  we  could  procure  a  cobra — and  we  had  many  opportunities — 
we  used  to  turn  it  out  in  an  empty  storeroom,  which  had  a  window  at  some  height  from  the 
ground,  so  that  it  was  perfectly  safe  to  stand  there  and  look  on.  The  cobra,  when  dropped  from 
the  bag  or  basket,  would  wriggle  into  one  of  the  corners  of  the  room  and  there  coil  himself  up. 
The  mongoose  showed  the  greatest  excitement  on  being  brought  to  the  window,  and  the  moment 


78         THE    LIVING    ANIMALS    OF    THE    WORLD 


he  was  let  loose  would  eagerly  jump  down  int 
the  room,  when  his  behaviour  became  very 
curious  and  interesting.  He  would  instantl) 
see  where  the  snake  was,  and  rounding  his 
back,  and  making  every  hair  on  his  body  stanc 
out  at  right  angles,  which  made  his  body  aj 
pear  twice  as  large  as  it  really  was,  he  wouk 
approach  the  cobra  on  tiptoe,  making 
peculiar  humming  noise.  The  snake,  in  the 
meantime,  would  show  signs  of  great  anxiety, 
and  I  fancy  of  fear,  erecting  his  head  anc 
hood  ready  to  strike  when  his  enemy  came 
near  enough.  The  mongoose  kept  running 
backwards  and  forwards  in  front  of  the  snake, 
gradually  getting  to  within  what  appeared  to 
us  to  be  striking  distance.  The  snake  wouk 
strike  at  him  repeatedly,  and  appeared  to  hit  him,  but  the  mongoose  continued  his  comic  dance, 
apparently  unconcerned.  Suddenly,  and  with  a  movement  so  rapid  that  the  eye  could  not 
follow  it,  he  would  pin  the  cobra  by  the  back  of  the  head.  One  could  hear  the  sharp  teet 
crunch  into  the  skull,  and,  when  all  was  over,  see  the  mongoose  eating  the  snake's  head  and 
part  of  his  body  with  great  gusto.  Our  little  favourite  killed  a  great  many  cobras,  and,  so  far 
I  can  see,  never  was  bitten. 

The  EGYPTIAN  MONGOOSE,  or  ICHNEUMON,  has  an  equally  great  reputation  for  eating  the 
eggs  of  the  crocodile ;  and  the  KAFFIR  MONGOOSE,  a  rather  larger  South  African  species,  is  kept 
as  a  domestic  animal  to  kill  rats,  mice,  and  snakes,  of  which,  like  the  Indian  kind,  it  is  a  deadly  foe. 
There  are  more  than  twenty  other  species,  most  of  much  the  same  appearance  and  habits. 
The  smooth-nosed  mongoose  tribe  are  closely  allied  creatures  in  South  Africa,  mainly  bur- 
rowing animals,  feeding  both  on  flesh  and  fruit.  The  CUSIMANSES  of  Abyssinia  and  West  Africa 
are  also  allied  to  them.  Their  habits  are  identical  with  the  above. 


fhtto  k}  L.  Midland,  F.Z.S  ]  [North  VinMty 

TWO-SPOTTED    PALM-CIVET 

Thit  is  a  ffest  African  species,  ivAicA,  -wit  A  an  allied  form  from  East 
Africa,  ref  resents  the  palm-civeti  in  the  Dark  Continent 


THE  MEERKATS,  OR  SURICATES 

Most  people  who  have  read  Frank  Buckland's  Life  will  remember  the  suricate  which 
chief  pet  in  Albany  Street.  The 
SURICATES,  or  MEERKATS,  burrow  all 
over  the  South  African  veldt,  espe- 
cially in  the  sandy  parts,  where  they 
sit  up  outside  their  holes  like  prairie- 
dogs,  and  are  seen  by  day.  They 
are  sociable  animals,  and  make  most 
amusing  pets.  A  full-grown  one  is 
not  much  larger  than  a  hedgehog, 
but  more  slender.  It  barks  like  a 
prairie-dog,  and  has  many  other  noises 
of  pleasure  or  anger.  A  lady,  the 
owner  of  one,  writes  in  Country  Life: 
"  It  gets  on  well  with  the  dogs  and 
cats,  especially  the  latter,  as  they  are 
more  friendly  to  her,  and  allow  her  to 
sleep  by  their  side  and  on  the  top  of 
them.  One  old  cat  brings  small  birds 


was  his 


. 


<  t,  L.  Midland,  F.Z.S. -\  \.Ntrth 

MASKED    PALM-CIVET 

A  -whole-coloured  species  of  the  group 


THE    FOSSA,    CIVETS,    AND    ICHNEUMONS        79 


fhttt  t)  Ro 


rt  D.  Canon] 

BINTURONG 


[Philadtlfh,, 


The  binturong  is  placed  -with  the  civets.      It  has  a  pre- 
hensile tail  like  the  kinkajou  (see  page 


to  her  (her  favourite  is  a  sparrow),  and  makes  her 
usual  cry,  and  Janet  runs  to  her  and  carries  off  the 
bird,  which  she  eats,  feathers  and  all,  in  a  very  few 
minutes,  if  she  is  hungry."  When  near  a  farm,  the 
meerkats  will  devour  eggs  and  young  chickens. 
They  are  also  said  to  eat  the  eggs  of  the  large 
leopard-tortoise.  The  commonest  is  the  SLENDER- 
TAILED  MEERKAT.  It  is  found  all  over  South  Africa, 
and  is  very  common  in  the  Karroo.  It  eats  insects 
and  grubs  as  well  as  small  animals,  and  is  commonly 
kept  as  a  pet  throughout  the  Colony. 

WE  have  now  traced  the  long  line  of  the 
Carnivora  from  the  lordly  Lion,  the  slayer  of  man  and 
his  flocks  and  herds,  and  the  Tiger,  equally  formidable 
and  no  less  specially  developed  for  a  life  of  rapine  on 
a  great  scale,  to  creatures  as  small  and  insignificant 
as  the  Meerkat,  which  is  at  least  as  much  an  insect- 
feeder  as  a  devourer  of  flesh,  and  the  Ichneumons 
and  Civets.  The  highest  form  of  specialisation  in  the 
group  is  the  delicate  mechanism  by  which  the  chief 
weapons  of  offense,  the  claws,  are  enabled  to  keep 

their  razor  edge  by  being  drawn  up  into  sheaths  when  the  animal  walks,  but  can  be  instantly 

thrust  out  at  pleasure,  rigid  and  sharp  as  sword -blades.     The  gradual  process  by  which  this 

equipment  deteriorates  in  the  Civets  and  disappears  in  the  Mongoose  should  be  noted.     There 

are  many  other  carnivora,  but  none  so  formidable  as  those  possessing  the  retractile  claws.     Thus 

the  Bears,  though  often  larger  in  bulk  than  the  Lion,  are  far  inferior  in  the  power  of  inflicting 

violent  injury.     At  the  same  time  such  delicate  mechanism  is  clearly  not  necessary  for  the  well- 
'being  of  a  species.     The  members  of  the  Weasel  Tribe  are  quite  as  well  able  to  take  care  of 

themselves  as  the  small  cats,  though  they  have  non-retractile  and  not  very  formidable  claws. 

Such  a  very  abnornal  animal  as  the  BINTURONG — of  which  we  are  able  to  give  an  excellent 

photograph — is  doubtless  rightly  assigned  to  the  place  in  which  modern  science  has  placed  it.     But 

it  will  be  found  that  there  are  several  very  anomalous  forms  quite  as  detached  from  any  general 

type   as    is    the    binturong.      Nature 

does  not  make  species  on  any  strictly 

graduated    scale.       Many    of    these 

nondescript    animals    are    so    unlike 

any  other  group  or  family  that  they 

seem  almost  freaks  of  nature.      The 

binturong  is  certainly  one  of  these. 
The  next  group  with  which  we 

deal  is  that  of  the  Hyaenas.     In  these 

the    equipment    for    catching    living 

prey  is  very  weak.     Speed  and  pursuit 

are  not  their  metier,  but  the  eating  of 

dead  and  decaying  animal  matter,  and 

the   consumption  of  bones.      Hence 

the  jaws   and   teeth   are   highly   de- 
veloped, while  the  rest  of  the   body 

is  degenerate. 


Phott  b)  L.  Midland,  F.Z.S.} 


MONGOOSE 

'1  /«   Indian  mongoutc  is  the  great  enemy  oj  snakes, 
of  the  crocodile 


[North  Finchlif 


species  eats  the  eggt 


8o         THE    LIVING    ANIMALS    OF   THE    WORLD 


Phttt  i;  A.  S.  Rudland  &*  Sent 

MEERKAT 

A  small,  mainly  insectivorous  animal,  found  in  South  Africa ;    also 
called  the  Suricate 


The  question  of  the  comparative  intelli- 
gence of  the  Apes  and  Monkeys,  and  the 
carnivorous  animals  subsequently  described  in 
these  pages,  is  an  interesting  one.  It  would 
seem  at  first  as  if  the  Cat  Tribe  and  their  rela- 
tions, which  have  to  obtain  their  prey  by  con- 
stant hunting,  and  often  to  make  use  of  consid- 
erable reflection  and  thought  to  bring  their 
enterprises  against  other  animals  to  a  successful 
issue,  would  be  more  likely  to  develop  intelli- 
gence and  to  improve  in  brain-power  than  the 
great  Apes,  which  find  an  easy  living  in  the 
tropical  forests,  and  only  seek  fruits  and  vegeta- 
bles for  their  food.  Yet  it  is  quite  certain  that 
this  is  not  the  case.  The  Cat  Tribe,  with  the 
exception  of  the  domesticated  cats,  does  not 
show  high  intelligence.  Even  the  latter  are 
seldom  trained  to  obey  man,  though  they  learn 
to  accommodate  themselves  to  his  ways  of  life. 
There  is  no  evidence  that  cats  have  any  sense  of 
number,  or  that  any  of  them  in  a  wild  state  make 
any  effort  to  provide  shelter  for  themselves  or 
construct  a  refuge  from  their  enemies,  though 
the  Leopard  will  make  use  of  a  cave  as  a  lair. 
In  matters  requiring  intelligence  and  coopera- 
tion, such  rodents  as  the  Beaver,  or  even  the 
Squirrel,  are  far  beyond  the  feline  carnivora  in 
sagacity  and  acquired  or  inherited  ingenuity. 
Except  the  Stoat,  which  sometimes  hunts  in 
packs,  no  species  of  the  carnivora  yet  dealt  with 
in  this  work  combines  to  hunt  its  prey,  or  for 
defense  against  enemies.  Each  for  itself  is  the 
rule,  and  even  among  the  less-specialised  flesh- 
eating  animals  of  the  other  groups  it  is  only 
the  Dog  Tribe  which  seems  to  understand  the 
principles  of  association  for  a  common  object. 


CHAPTER     IV 

THE    HYENAS   AND    AARD-WOLF 

IF  every  animal  has  its  place  in  nature,  we  must  suppose  that  the  hyaena's  business  is  to  clear 
up  the  bones  and  such  parts  of  the  animal  dead  as  the  vultures  and  other  natural  "  under- 
takers" cannot  devour.     Hyaenas  have  very  strong  jaws,  capable  of  crushing  almost  any 
bone.     In  prehistoric  times  they  were  common  in  England,  and  lived  in  the  caves  of  Derbyshire 
and  Devon.     In  these  caves  many  bones  were  found  quite  smashed  up,  as  if  by  some  very  large 
wild  animal.     It  was  supposed  that  this  was  done  by  bears — Dean  Buckland  said  "  by  hyaenas." 
He  procured  a  hyaena,  kept  it  at  his  house,  and  fed  it  on  bones.     The  smashed  fragments  he  laid 
on  the  table  at  a  scientific  lecture  beside  the  fragments  from  the  caverns.     The  resemblance  was 
identical,  and  the  Dean  triumphed. 


THE    HYENAS    AND    AARD-WOLF 


81 


Phtto  by  A.  S.  Rudland  &*  Sen, 

SPOTTED    HYAENA 

The  largest  of  the  carrion-feeding   animals.      A  Sf'Uth 
species 


The  hyaenas  are  carnivorous  animals,  with  the 
front  limbs  longer  than  the  hind.  The  tail  is 
short,  the  colour  spotted  or  brindled,  the  teeth  and 
jaws  of  great  strength. 

The  BROWN  HYAENA,  or  STRAND-WOLF,  is  an 
African  species,  with  very  long,  coarse  hair,  reach- 
ing a  length  of  10  inches  on  the  back.  It  is  not 
found  north  of  the  Zambesi ;  and  it  is  nocturnal, 
and  fond  of  wandering  along  the  shore,  where 
it  picks  up  crabs  and  dead  fish.  Young  cattle, 
sheep,  and  lambs  are  also  killed  by  it,  and  offal  of 
all  kinds  devoured. 

The  SPOTTED  HYAENA  is  a  large  and  massive 
animal,  the  head  and  body  being  4  feet  6  inches 
long  without  the  tail.  It  is  found  all  over  Africa 
from  Abyssinia  and  Senegal  southwards.  A  few 
are  left  in  Natal.  It  is  believed  to  be  the  same 
as  the  cave-hyaena  of  Europe.  By  day  it  lives 
much  in  the  holes  of  the  aard-vark  (ant-bear) ;  by 
night  it  goes  out,  sometimes  in  small  bands,  to 
seek  food.  It  has  a  loud  and  mournful  howl, 

beginning  low  and  ending  high.     It  also  utters  a  horrible  maniacal  laugh  when  excited,  which 

gives  it  the  name  of  Laughing-hyaena.     "  Its  appetite,"  says  Mr.  W.  L.  Sclater  in  his  "  South 

African  Mammals,"  "  is  boundless.     It  is  entirely  carnivorous,  but  seems  to  prefer  putrid  and 

decaying  matter,  and  never  kills  an  animal  unless  driven  to  do  so  by  hunger.     Sheep  and  donkeys 

are  generally  attacked  at  the  belly,  and  the  bowels  torn  out  by  its  sharp  teeth.     Horses  are  also 

frequent  objects  of  attack ;  but  in  this  case  shackling   is  useful,  as  the  horse,  unable  to  escape, 

faces  the  hyaena,  which  instantly  bolts.     It  is  an  excellent  scavenger,  and  it  has  been  known  to 

kill  and  carry  off  young  children,  though  the  least  attempt  at  pursuit  will  cause  it  to  drop  them. 

Many  stories  are  told,  too,  of  its  attacking  sleeping  natives  ;  in  this  case  it  invariably  goes  for  the 

man's  face.  Drummond  states 

that  he  has  seen  many  men 

who  had  been  thus  mutilated, 

wanting    noses,  or  with  the 

whole   mouth  and  lips  torn 

away.     This  is  confirmed  by 

other  authors."     Drummond 

gives   an   instance   of  seven 

cows  being  mortally  injured  in 

a  single  night  by  two  hyaenas, 

which  attacked  them  and  bit 

off  the  udders.  Poisoned  meat 

is  the  only  means  to  get  rid  of 

this  abominable  animal. 

Sir  Samuel  Baker  says: 

"  I  can  safely  assert  that  the 

bone-cracking  power  of  this 

animal   is    extraordinary.      I 

cannot  say  that  it  exceeds  the 

lion  or  tiger  in  the  strength 


Fhttt  by  A.  S.  Rudland  &•  Sons 


SPOTTED 


The  jauii  of  the  hyaena  art  specially  made  for  cracking  bones.      They  -will  unatA  the  thtgh-bont 

of  a  buffalo 


82 


THE    LIVING    ANIMALS    OF    THE    WORLD 


\_Honh  t'tnctliij 


of  its  jaws;  but  they  will 
leave  bones  unbroken  which 
a  hyaena  will  crack  in  halves. 
Its  powers  of  digestion  are 
unlimited.  It  will  swallow 
and  digest  a  knuckle-bone 
without  giving  it  a  crunch, 
and  will  crack  the  thigh-bone 
of  a  buffalo  to  obtain  the 
marrow,  and  swallow  either 
end  immediately  after.  .  .  . 
I  remember  that  once  a 
hyaena  came  into  our  tent  at 
night.  But  this  was  merely  a 
friendly  reconnaissance,  to  see 
if  any  delicacy,  such  as  our 
shoes,  or  a  saddle,  or  anything 
that  smelt  of  leather,  were 
lying  about.  It  was  bright 
moonlight,  and  the  air  was 


Photo  by  L.  Midland,  F.Z.S.\ 

STRIPED    HYAENA 

Thii  is  the  hytena  of  Northern  Africa^  Palestine,  and  India 

calm.  There  was  nothing  to  disturb  the  stillness.  I  was  awakened  from  sleep  by  a  light  touch 
on  my  sleeve,  and  my  attention  was  directed  by  my  wife  to  some  object  that  had  just  quitted 
our  tent.  I  took  my  rifle  from  beneath  the  mat  on  which  1  lay,  and,  after  waiting  for  a  few 
minutes  sitting  up  in  bed,  saw  a  large  form  standing  in  the  doorway  preparatory  to  entering. 
Presently  it  walked  in  cautiously,  and  immediately  fell  dead,  with  a  bullet  between  its  eyes. 
It  proved  to  be  a  very  large  hyaena,  an  old  and  experienced  depredator,  as  it  bore  countless 
scars  of  encounters  with  other  strong  biters  of  its  race." 

The  STRIPED  HYAENA  is  found  in  India  as  well  as  in  Africa.     In  portions  of  Abyssinia  these 
animals  are  so  numerous  that  on  the  Nile  tributaries  Sir  Samuel  Baker  used  to  hear  them  crack- 
ing   the    bones    after   supper    every 
night  just  as  they  had  been  thrown 
by  the  Arabs  within  a  few  feet  of  the 
deserted  table.     In  this  way  they  are 
useful  scavengers. 

THE   AARD-WOLF 

This  small  African  hyaena-like 
creature  stands  in  a  family  by  itself. 
The  animal  is  like  a  small  striped 
hyaena,  with  a  pointed  muzzle,  longer 
ears,  and  a  kind  of  mane.  It  is  com- 
mon all  through  South  and  East 
Africa,  where  it  lives  on  carrion,  white 
ants,  and  lambs  and  kids.  It  has  not 
the  strong  jaws  and  teeth  of  the  dog  or  ph"° hf  A-  s-  Rudland  &  s°n> 
hyaena  family.  The  colonists  com-  AARD-WOLF 

11  ji-ii-^       •  i     /•  •  The  aard-wolf  stands  in  a  family  by  itself.      It  is  allied  to  the  Ay  anas,  but  is  ajar 

monly  hunt  and  kill  it  with  fox-terriers.  feMtr  animal 


Phut  by  Niw  York  Zoological  Stcitt) 


YOUNG    GREY    WOLF 


The  grey  wolf  of  North  America^  which  once  preyed  mainly  on  young  bhon  cal-ves,  ii  noiv  a  formidable  enemy  to  the  increasing  flocks  of  sheep 

and  herds  of  cattle  in  the  north  and  -west 

83 


CHAPTER    V 

THE   DOG   FAMILY 


I  T 


Photo  hi  Scholaitic  Photo,  Co.,  Parson •;  (j*un 

A    GROWING    CUB 

Note  hoiv  the  -wolf  cub  develops  the  long  pasterns, 
large  feet,  and  long  jaw  before  its  body  groivs  in 
frofortion 


HE  tribe  now  treated  is  called  the  Dog  Family,  and 
rightly  so,  for  our  domestic  dogs  are  included  in 
the  group,  which  comprises  the  Wolves,  Dogs, 
Jackals,  Wild  Dogs,  and  Foxes.    Their  general  characters 
are  too  familiar  to  need  description,  but  it  should  be  noted 
that  the  foxes  differ  from  the  dogs  in  having  contracting 
pupils  to  the  eye  (which  in  bright  sun  closes  like  a  cat's 
to  a  mere  slit),  and  some  power  of  climbing.     The  origin 
of  the  domestic  dog  is  still  unsettled. 

THE  WOLF 

This  great  enemy  of  man  and  his  dependents — the 
creature  against  the  ravages  of  which  almost  all  the  early 
races  of  Europe  had  to  combine,  either  in  tribes,  villages, 
or  principalities,  to  protect  their  children,  themselves,  and 
their   cattle — was    formerly  found  all  over  the  northern 
hemisphere,  both  in  the  Old  and  New  Worlds.     In  India 
it  is  rather  smaller,  but  equally  fierce  and  cunning,  though 
as  there  are  no  long  winters,  it  does  not  gather  in  pacl 
It  is  still  so  common  in  parts  of  the  Rocky  Mountaii 
that  the  cattle  and  sheep  of  the  ranch-holders  and  wile 
game  of  the  National  Yellowstone  Park  suffer  severely.     In  Switzerland  the  ancient  organisations 
of  wolf  clubs  in  the  cantons  are  still  maintained.     In  Brittany  the  Grand  Louvetier  is  a  govern- 
ment official.     Every  very  hard  winter  wolves  from  the  Carpathians  and  Russia  move  across  th 
frozen  rivers  of  Europe  even  to  the  forests  of  the  Ardennes  and  of  Fontainebleau.     In  Norwa 
they  ravage  the  reindeer  herds  of  the  Lapps.     Only  a  few  years  ago  an  artist,  his  wife,  and  serv 
ant  were  all  attacked  on  their  way  to  Budapest,  in  Hungary,  and  the  man  and  his  wife  kill 
The  last  British  wolf  was  killed  in  1680  by  Cameron  of  Lochiel.     Wolves  are  common  in  Pales 
tine,  Persia,  and  India. 

Without  going  back  over  the  well-known  history  of  the  species,  we  will  give  some  anecdot 
of  the  less  commonly  known  exploits  of  these  fierce  and  dangerous  brutes.  Mr.  Kipling 
"  Jungle  Book  "  has  given  us  an  "  heroic  "  picture  of  the  life  of  the  Indian  wolves.  There  is  a 
great  deal  of  truth  in  it.  Even  the  child-stealing  by  wolves  is  very  probably  a  fact,  for  native 
opinion  is  unanimous  in  crediting  it.  Babies  laid  down  by  their  mothers  when  working  in  the 
fields  are  constantly  carried  off  and  devoured  by  them,  and  stories  of  their  being  spared  and 
suckled  by  the  she-wolves  are  very  numerous. 

Indian  wolves  hunt  in  combination,  without  assembling  in  large  packs.  The  following  is  a 
remarkable  instance,  recorded  by  General  Douglas  Hamilton :  "  When  returning  with  a  friend 
from  a  trip  to  the  mountain  caves  of  Ellora,  we  saw  a  herd  of  antelope  near  a  range  of  low  rocky 
hills  ;  and  as  there  was  a  dry  nullah,  or  watercourse,  we  decided  on  having  a  stalk.  While  cree 
mg  up  the  nullah,  we  noticed  two  animals  coming  across  the  plain  on  our  left.  We  took  the 
at  first  foi  leopards,  but  then  saw  that  they  were  wolves.  When  they  were  about  500  yards  fro 

84 


Plmla  I,,/  Ottomar   AnM-liiitz,    Berlin. 

WOLF     FROM     CENTRAL     EUROPE. 
The  last  persons  recorded  as  killed  by  these  animals  were  an  .artist  an  1  his  wife  travelling  in  Hungary 


THE    DOG    FAMILY 


Phtti  by  Scholaitic  Photo.  Co.]  [Fa 

WOLF    CUBS 

These  are  e-vidently  the  fatter-brothers  of  Romulus  and  Remus 


the  antelope,  they  lay  down 
quietly.  After  about  ten 
minutes  or  so,  the  smaller  of 
the  two  got  up  and  trotted 
off  to  the  rocky  hills,  and 
suddenly  appeared  on  the 
ridge,  running  backwards  and 
forwards  like  a  Scotch  collie 
dog.  The  larger  wolf,  as  soon 
as  he  saw  that  the  antelope 
were  fully  occupied  in  watch- 
ing his  companion,  got  up 
and  came  as  hard  as  he  could 
gallop  to  the  nullah.  Un- 
fortunately he  saw  us  and 
bolted ;  and  his  companion, 
seeing  there  was  something 
wrong,  did  the  same.  Now, 
it  is  evident  that  these 
wolves  had  regularly  planned 

this  attack.  One  was  to  occupy  the  attention  of  the  antelope,  the  other  to  steal  up  the  water- 
course and  dash  into  the  midst  of  them.  At  another  time  a  brother-officer  of  mine  was  stalking 
a  herd  of  antelope  which  were  feeding  down  a  grassy  valley,  when  suddenly  a  wolf  got  up  before 
him,  and  then  another  and  then  another,  until  fourteen  wolves  rose  out  of  the  grass.  They  were 
extended  right  across  the  valley  in  the  shape  of  a  fishing-net  or  jelly-bag,  so  that  as  soon  as  the 
herd  had  got  well  into  the  jelly-bag  they  would  have  rushed  on  the  antelope,  and  some  must  have 
fallen  victims  to  their  attack."  They  have  been  known  to  join  in  the  chase  of  antelopes  by  dogs. 
Captain  Jackson,  of  the  Nizam's  service,  let  his  dogs  course  an  antelope  fawn.  A  wolf  jumped 
up,  joined  the  dogs,  and  all  three  seized  the  fawn  together.  He  then  came  up,  whipped  off  the 
dogs  and  the  wolf,  and  secured  the  fawn,  which  did  not  seem  hurt.  The  wolf  immediately  sat 
down  and  began  to  howl  at  the  loss  of  his  prey,  and  in  a  few  moments  made  a  dash  at  the  officer, 
but  when  within  a  few  yards  thought  better  of  it,  and  recommenced  howling.  This  brought 
another  wolf  to  his  assistance.  Both  howled  and  looked  very  savage,  and  seemed  inclined  to 
make  another  dash  at  the  antelope.  But  the  horse-keepers  came  up,  and  the  wolves  retired. 

The  Indian  wolf,  if  a  male,  stands  about  26  inches  high  at  the  shoulder.  The  length  of 
head  and  body  is  37  inches  ;  tail,  17  inches. 

The  same  species  practically  haunts  the  whole  of  the  world  north  of  the  Himalaya.  It  varies 
in  colour  from  almost  black  to  nearly  pure  white.  In  the  Hudson  Bay  fur-sales  every  variety 
of  colour  between  these  may  be  seen,  but  most  are  of  a  tawny  brindle.  The  male  grows  to  a 
very  great  size.  One  of  the  largest  ever  seen  in  Europe  was  for  years  at  the  London  Zoo.  It 
stood  6  feet  high  when  on  its  hind  legs,  and  its  immense  head  and  jaws  seemed  to  occupy  one- 
third  of  the  space  from  nose  to  tail.  Horses  are  the  main  prey  of  the  NORTHERN  WOLF.  It  will 
kill  any  living  creature,  but  horse-flesh  is  irresistible.  It  either  attacks  by  seizing  the  flank  and 
throwing  the  animal,  or  bites  the  hocks.  The  biting  power  is  immense.  It  will  tear  a  solid  mass 
of  flesh  at  one  grip  from  the  buttock  of  a  cow  or  horse.  In  the  early  days  of  the  United  States, 
when  Audubon  was  making  his  first  trip  up  the  head-waters  of  the  Missouri,  flesh  of  all  kinds 
was  astonishingly  abundant  on  the  prairies.  Buffalo  swarmed,  and  the  Indians  had  any  quantity 
of  buffalo  meat  for  the  killing.  Wolves  of  very  large  size  used  to  haunt  the  forts  and  villages, 
and  were  almost  tame,  being  well  fed  and  comfortable.  Far  different  was  the  case  even  near 
St.  Petersburg  at  the  same  period.  A  traveler  in  1840  was  chased  by  a  pack  of  wolves  so 


86 


THE    LIVING    ANIMALS    OF    THE    WORLD 


Phtto  by  L.  Midland,  F  Z  S  ] 

WHITE   WOLF 

White  -wo/ires  are  quite  common  in  North  America.     Recently  fwo 
lohite  wolves  -were  brought  to  the  Zoological  Gardens  from  Russia 


closely  that  when  the  sledge-horses  reached  the 
post-house  and  rushed  into  the  stable,  the  doors 
of  which  were  open,  seven  of  the  wolves  rushed 
in  after  them.  The  driver  and  traveler  leaped 
from  the  sledge  just  as  it  reached  the  building, 
and  horses  and  wolves  rushed  past  them  into  it. 
The  men  then  ran  up  and  closed  the  doors. 
Having  obtained  guns,  they  opened  the  roof, 
expecting  to  see  that  the  horses  had  been  killed. 
Instead  all  seven  wolves  were  slinking  about  be- 
side the  terrified  horses.  All  were  killed  without 
resistance. 

In  Siberia  and  Russia  the  wolves  in  winter 
are  literally  starving.  Gathering  in  packs,  they 
haunt  the  roads,  and  chase  the  sledges  with  their 
unfaltering  gallop.  Seldom  in  these  days  does  a  human  life  fall  victim ;  but  in  very  hard 
winters  sledge-horses  are  often  killed,  and  now  and  then  a  peasant.  Rabies  is  very  common 
among  wolves.  They  then  enter  the  villages,  biting  and  snapping  at  every  one.  Numbers  of 
patients  are  sent  yearly  from  Russia  and  Hungary  to  the  Pasteur  Institutes,  after  being  bitten  by 
rabid  wolves.  In  Livonia,  in  1823,  it  was  stated  that  the  following  animals  had  been  killed  by 
wolves:  15,182  sheep,  1,807  oxen,  1,841  horses,  3,270  goats,  4,190  pigs,  703  dogs,  and  numbers 
of  geese  and  fowls.  They  followed  the  Grand  Army  from  Russia  to  Germany  in  1812,  and 
restocked  the  forests  of  Europe  with  particularly  savage  wolves.  It  is  said  that  in  the  retreat 
from  Moscow  twenty-four  French  soldiers,  with  their  arms  in  their  hands,  were  attacked,  killed, 
and  eaten  by  a  pack  of  wolves. 

From  very  early  times  special  breeds  of  dogs  have  been  trained  to  guard  sheep  against  the 
attacks  of  wolves.  Some  of  these  were  intended  to  defend  the  flock  on  the  spot,  others  to  run 
down  the  wolves  in  the  open.  The  former  are  naturally  bred  to  be  very  large  and  heavy ;  the 
latter,  though  they  must  be  strong,  are  light  and  speedy.  Of  the  dogs  which  guard  the  flocks 
several  races  still  survive.  Among  the  most  celebrated  are  those  of  Albania  and  the  mountain- 
ous parts  of  Turkey,  and  the  wolf-dogs  of  Tibet,  generally  called  Tibetan  Bloodhounds.  The 
Tartar  shepherds  on  the  steppes  near  the  Caucasus  also  keep  a  very  large  and  ferocious  breed  of 
dog.  All  these  are  of  the  mastiff  type,  but  have  long,  thick  hair.  When  the  shepherds  of 
Albania  or  Mount  Rhodope  are  driving  their  flocks  along  the  mountains  to  the  summer  pastures, 
they  sometimes  travel  a  distance  of  200  miles.  During  this  march  the  dogs  act  as  flankers  and 

scouts  by  day  and  night,  and  do  battle  with  the 
wolves,  which  .know  quite  well  the  routes  along 
which  the  sheep  usually  pass,  and  are  on  the 
lookout  to  pick  up  stragglers  or  raid  the 
flock.  The  Spanish  shepherds  employ  a  large 
white  shaggy  breed  of  dog  as  guards  against 
wolves.  These  dogs  both  lead  the  sheep  and 
bring  up  the  rear  in  the  annual  migration  of 
the  flocks  to  and  from  the  summer  pastures. 
In  the  west  of  America,  now  that  sheep-ranch- 
ing on  a  large  scale  has  been  introduced,  wolf- 
dogs  are  bred  to  live  entirely  with  the  sheep. 
They  are  suckled  when  puppies  by  the  ewes 
instead  of  by  their  own  mothers,  and  become, 
as  it  were,  a  part  of  the  flock. 


bj  Scholastic  Photo.  Co.]  \_Parson',  Grim 

PRAIRIE-WOLF,    OR    COYOTE 

'i'/tis  it  the  small,  grey,  thickly  furred  species  found  on  the  prairies 


THE    DOG    FAMILY 


President  Theodore  Roosevelt  gives  an  interesting  account  of  wolf-coursing  in  Russia,  in  an 
article  contributed  to  "  The  Encyclopaedia  of  Sport"  (Lawrence  &  Bullen).  "  In  Russia  the  sport 
is  a  science,"  he  writes.  "  The  princes  and  great  landowners  who  take  part  in  it  have  their 
hunting-equipages  equipped  perfectly  to  the  smallest  detail.  Not  only  do  they  follow  wolves  in 
the  open,  but  they  capture  them  and  let  them  out  before  dogs,  like  hares  in  a  closed  coursing- 
meeting.  The  huntsman  follows  his  hounds  on  horseback.  (These  hounds  are  the  Borzoi, 
white  giant  greyhounds,  now  often  seen  in  England.)  Those  in  Russia  show  signs  of  reversion 
to  the  type  of  the  Irish  wolf-hound,  dogs  weighing  something  like  100  Ibs.,  of  remarkable  power, 
and  of  reckless  and  savage  temper.  Now  three  or  four  dogs  are  run  together.  They  are  not 
expected  to  kill  the  wolf,  but  merely  to  hold  him.  .  .  .  The  Borzois  can  readily  overtake 


rhott  b)  Otto 


chutx] 


"THE    WOLF    WITH    PRIVY    PAW" 

The  photograph  sAo-ws  admirably  the  slinking  gate  and  long  stride  of  the  -wolf 


and  master  partly  grown  wolves,  but  a  full-grown  dog-wolf,  in  good  trim,  will  usually  gallop  away 
from  them." 

A  number  of  these  Borzoi  dogs  have  been  imported  into  America,  and  are  used  to  course 
wolves  in  the  Western  States.  But  there  professional  wolf-hunters  are  employed  to  kill  off  the 
creatures  near  the  ranches.  One  such  hunter  lives  near  President  Roosevelt's  ranch  on  the 
Little  Missouri.  His  pack  of  large  dogs  will  tear  in  pieces  the  biggest  wolf  without  aid  from 
the  hunter.  Of  his  own  efforts  in  wolf-coursing  he  writes :  "  We  generally  started  for  the 
hunting-ground  very  early,  riding  across  the  open  country  in  a  widely  spread  line  of  dogs  and 
men.  If  we  put  up  a  wolf,  we  simply  went  at  him  as  hard  as  we  knew  how.  Young  wolves,  or 
those  which  had  not  attained  their  full  strength,  were  readily  overtaken,  and  the  pack  would 
handle  a  she-wolf  quite  readily.  A  big  dog-wolf,  or  even  a  full-grown  and  powerful  she-wolf, 


88 


THE    LIVING    ANIMALS    OF   THE    WORLD 


fhatt  by  J.  U- 


RUSSIAN    WOLF 


This  is  a  most  characteristic  photograph  of  one  of  the  so-called  "greyhound  wol-vet  "  of  the 

Russian  forests 


offered  an  altogether  different 
problem.  Frequently  we  came 
upon  one  after  it  had  gorged 
itself  on  a  colt  or  calf.  Under 
such  conditions,  if  the  dogs 
had  a  good  start,  they  ran  into 
the  wolf  and  held  him.  .  .  . 
Packs  composed  of  nothing 
but  specially  bred  and  trained 
greyhounds  of  great  size  and 
power  made  a  better  showing. 
Under  favourable  circum- 
stances three  or  four  of  these 
dogs  readily  overtook  and 
killed  the  largest  wolf.  .  .  . 
Their  dashing  courage  and 
ferocious  fighting  capacity 
were  marvelous,  and  in  this 
respect  I  was  never  able  to  see 
much  difference  between  the 
smooth  and  rough  —  the 
Scotch  deerhound  or  the 
greyhound  type." 

Wolf  cubs  are  born  in  April  or  May.  The  litter  is  from  four  to  nine.  There  was  one  of  six 
a  few  years  ago  at  the  Zoological  Gardens  at  the  Hague,  pretty  little  creatures  like  collie  puppies, 
but  quarrelsome  and  rough  even  in  their  play.  When  born,  they  were  covered  with  reddish- 
white  down ;  later  the  coat  became  woolly  and  dark. 

The  European  wolf's  method  of  hunting  when  in  chase  of  deer  is  by  steady  pursuit.  Its 
speed  is  such  and  its  endurance  so  great  that  it  can  overtake  any  animal.  But  there  is  no  doubt 
that  the  favourite  food  of  the  wolf  is  mutton,  which  it  can  always  obtain  without  risk  on  the  wild 
mountains  of  the  Near  East,  if  once  the  guardian  dogs  are  avoided.  M.  Tschudi,  the  naturalist 
of  the  Alps,  gives  a  curious  account  of  the  assemblage  of  wolves  in  Switzerland  in  1799.  They 
had,  as  it  is  mentioned  above,  followed  the  armies  from  Russia.  Having  tasted  human  flesh,  they 
preferred  it  to  all  other,  and  even  dug  up  the  corpses.  The  Austrian,  French,  and  Russian 
troops  penetrated  in  1799  into  the  highest  mountain  valleys  of  Switzerland,  and  fought  sangui- 
nary battles  there.  Hundreds  of  corpses  were  left  on  the  mountains  and  in  the  forests,  which 
acted  as  bait  to  the  wolves,  which  were  not  destroyed  for  some  years. 

Wolves  will  interbreed  with  dogs  readily,  which  the  red  fox  will  not.  The  progeny  do  not 
bark,  but  howl.  The  Eskimo  cross  their  dogs  with  wolves  to  give  them  strength. 

THE   COYOTE,  OR   PRAIRIE-WOLF 

Besides  the  large  gray  wolf,  a  smaller  and  less  formidable  animal  is  common  on  the  prairies 
and  mountains  of  the  northern  half  of  the  continent  of  America.     This  is  the  COYOTE.     It  tak 
the  place  of  the  hyaena  as  a  scavenger,  but  has  some  of  the  habits  of  the  fox.     It  catches  bir 
and  buck-rabbits,  and  feeds   on  insects,  as  well  as  small  rodents  like  prairie-dogs  and  mice.     Its 
melancholy  howls  make  night  hideous  on  the  northern  prairies,  and  it  is  the  steady  foe  of  all 
young  creatures,  such  as  the  fawns  of  prong-horned  antelope  and  deer.     Its  skin,  like  that  of 
most  northern  carnivora,is  thick  and  valuable  for  fur  wraps.     The  coyotes  assemble  in  packs  like 
jackals. 

In  the  National  Park  in  the  Yellowstone  Valley  gray  wolves  and  coyotes  are  the  only 


THE    DOG    FAMILY 


89 


animals  which  it  is  absolutely  necessary  to  destroy.  As  the  deer  and  antelope  and  other  game 
increased  under  State  protection,  the  wolves  and  coyotes  drew  towards  a  quarter  where  there 
were  no  hunters  and  a  good  supply  of  food.  It  was  soon  found  that  the  increase  of  the  game 
was  checked.  The  coyotes  used  to  watch  the  hinds  when  about  to  drop  their  calves,  and 
usually  succeeded  in  killing  them.  The  large  gray  wolves  killed  the  hinds  themselves,  and  gener- 
ally made  life  most  unpleasant  for  the  dwellers  in  this  paradise.  Orders  were  issued  to  kill  off  all 
the  wolves  by  any  means.  Poison  was  found  to  be  the  best  remedy ;  but  in  the  winter,  when  all 
the  game  descended  into  the  valleys,  the  wolves  found  so  much  fresh  food  in  the  carcases  of  the 
animals  they  killed  for  themselves  that  they  would  not  eat  very  eagerly  of  the  poisoned  baits. 
The  coyotes  were  killed  off  fairly  closely,  as  they  are  less  able  to  obtain  living  prey ;  but  the 
gray  wolves  are  constantly  reinforced  from  the  mountains,  and  are  a  permanent  enemy  to  be 
coped  with. 

A  curious  instance  of  change  of  habit  in  wolves  on  the  American  prairies  was  recently  noted 
in  the  Spectator.  Formerly  they  followed  the  caravans ;  now  they  come  down  to  the  great 
transcontinental  railways,  and  haunt  the  line  to  obtain  food.  Each  train  which  crosses  the  prairie 
is,  like  a  ship,  full  of  provisions.  Three  meals  a  day  take  place  regularly,  and  these  are  not 
stinted  The  black  cooks  throw  all  the  waste  portions — beef-bones,  other  bones,  stale  bread,  and 
trimmings — overboard.  The  wolves  have  learnt  that  the  passing  of  a  train  means  food,  and 
when  they  hear  one  they  gallop  down  to  the  line,  and  wait  like  expectant  dogs  in  the  hope 
of  picking  up  a  trifle.  The  coyotes  come  close  to  the  metals,  and  sit  like  terriers,  with  their 
sharp  noses  pricked  up.  The  big  gray  wolves  also  appear  in  the  early  morning,  standing  on  the 
snow,  over  which  the  chill  wind  of  winter  blows,  gaunt  and  hungry  images  of  winter  and  famine. 


Photo  tj  Ottomar  Anschutx] 


[Berlin 


WOLF    OF    THE     CARPATHIANS 


This  <wolf  is  a  shorter  and  more  heavily  built  specimen  than  the  Russian  -wolf  on  the  previous  page 


THE    LIVING    ANIMALS    OF    THE    WORLD 

Some  years  ago  experiments  were  made  at  the 
Regent's  Park  Zoological  Gardens  to  ascertain  if  there 
were  any  foundation  for  the  old  legends  that  wolves 
feared  the  sound  of  stringed  instruments  such  as  the 
violin.  Every  one  will  remember  the  story  of  the 
fiddler  pursued  by  wolves.  It  is  said  that  as  the  pack 
overtook  him  he  broke  a  string  of  his  instrument,  and 
that  the  sudden  noise  of  the  parting  cord  caused  the 
pack  to  stand  still  for  a  minute,  and  so  enabled  him  to 
reach  a  tree,  which  he  climbed.  Further,  that  when 
he  improved  on  the  hint  so  given,  and  played  his  fiddle, 
the  wolves  all  sat  still ;  when  he  left  off,  they  leapt  up 
and  tried  to  reach  him.  Experiments  with  the  Zoo 
wolves  showed  that  there  was  no  doubt  whatever  that 
the  low  minor  chords  played  on  a  violin  cause  the 

Phot,  by    L.  Midland,  F.Z.S.']  [North  tinimey  .  .         .  . 

INDIAN   WOLF  greatest  fear  and  agitation  in  wolves,  both  European 

This  photograph  sho-ws  the  Indian  wolf  alarmed,    it  has  a      and  Indian.     The  instrument  was  first  played  behind 

reputation  for  stealing  children  as 'well  as  killing  cattle  tne    ^en    of   an    Indian    Wolf,  and  Out  of  sight.       At  the 

first  sound  the  wolf  began  to  tremble,  erected  its  fur,  dropped  its  tail  between  its  legs,  and  crept 
uneasily  across  its  den.  As  the  sound  grew  louder  and  more  intense,  the  wolf  trembled  so  violently, 
and  showed  such  physical  evidence  of  being  dominated  by  excessive  fright,  that  the  keeper  begged 
that  the  experiment  might  be  discontinued,  or  the  creature  would  have  a  fit.  A  large  European 
wolf  is  described  in  "  Life  at  the  Zoo "  as  having  exhibited  its  dislike  of  the  music  in  a 

different  way.     It  set  up  all  its 


' 


I'hute  by  (Jitamar  dnschutx] 

WOLF'S    HEAD 

A  -very  fine  study  of  the  head,  jaws,  and  teeth  of  a  female 

much  larger 


[Btrlin 


•wolf.      The  head  of  the  male  is 


fur  till  it  looked  much  larger 
than  its  ordinary  size,  and  drew 
back  its  lips  until  all  the  white 
teeth  protruding  from  the  red 
gums  were  shown.  It  kept 
silent  till  the  violin-player 
approached  it ;  then  it  flew  at 
him  with  a  ferocious  growl, 
and  tried  to  seize  him. 

There  are  instances  of 
wolves  having  been  quite  suc- 
cessfully tamed,  and  develop- 
ing great  affection  for  their 
owners.  They  are  certainly 
more  dog-like  than  any  fox ; 
yet  even  the  fox  has  been 
tamed  so  far  as  to  become  a 
domesticated  animal  for  the 
lifetime  of  one  particular  indi- 
vidual. An  extraordinary 
instance  of  this  was  lately 
given  in  Country  Life,  with  a 
photograph  of  the  fox.  It 
was  taken  when  a  cub,  and 
brought  up  at  a  large  country 
house  with  a  number  of  dogs. 


THE     DOG     FAMILY 


Among  these  were  three 
terriers,  with  which  it  made 
friends.  There  were  plenty 
of  wild  foxes  near,  some  of 
which  occasionally  laid  up 
in  the  laurels  in  a  shrub- 
bery not  far  from  the 
house.  These  laurels  were, 
in  fact,  a  fairly  safe  find  for 
a  fox.  It  was  the  particular 
sport  of  the  terriers  to  be 
taken  to  "  draw  "  this  bit  of 
cover,  and  to  chase  out  any 
fox  in  it.  On  these  ex- 
peditions the  tame  fox 
invariably  accompanied 
them,  and  took  an  active 
part  in  the  chase,  pursuing 
the  wild  fox  as  far  as  the 
terriers  were  able  to  main- 
tain the  hunt. 

In    Central  Asia  the 
wolves    lie    out  singly  on 


Photo  by  Scholastic  Photo.  Co.] 


[Parson 's  Green 


RUSSIAN    WOLF 

Note  the  expression  of  fear  and  ferocity  on  the  face  of  this  wolf ;    also  the  enormously  powerful  jaws 


the    steppes     during    the 

summer,  and  feed  on  the  young  antelopes  and  the  lambs  and  kids  of  the  Tartar's  flocks.  The 
Kirghiz  organise  wolf-killing  parties,  to  which  as  many  mounted  men  and  dogs  come  as  can  be 
brought  together.  In  order  to  aid  the  dogs,  the  Tartars  often  employ  eagles  trained  to  act  like 
falcons,  which  sit  on  the  arm  of  the  owner.  As  the  eagle  is  too  heavy  to  be  carried  for  any  time 
in  this  way,  a  crutch  is  fastened  to  the  left  side  of  the  saddle,  on  which  the  bearer  of  the  falcon 
rests  his  arm.  When  a  wolf  is  sighted,  the  eagle  is  loosed,  and  at  once  flies  after  the  wolf,  and 
overtakes  it  in  a  short  time,  striking  at  its  head  and  eyes  with  its  talons,  and  buffeting  it  with  its 
wings.  This  attack  so  disconcerts  the  wolf  that  it  gives  time  for  the  dogs  to  come  up  and  seize  it. 

The  habits  of  the  Siberian  wolf  are  rather  different  from  those  in  West  Russia,  and  the  set- 
tlers and  nomad  Tartars  of  Siberia  are  far  more  adventurous  and  energetic  in  defending  themselves 
against  its  ravages  than  the  peasants  of  European  Russia.  Being  mounted,  they  also  have  a 
great  advantage  in  the  pursuit.  The  result  is  that  Siberian  wolves  seldom  appear  in  large  packs, 
and  very  rarely  venture  to  attack  man.  Yet  the  damage  they  do  to  the  flocks  and  herds  which 
constitute  almost  the  only  property  of  the  nomad  tribes  is  very  severe. 

Both  the  Russians  and  Siberians  believe  that  when  a  she-wolf  is  suckling  her  young  she 
carefully  avoids  attacking  flocks  in  the  neighbourhood  of  the  place  where  the  cubs  lie,  but  that 
if  she  be  robbed  of  her  whelps  she  revenges  herself  by  attacking  the  nearest  flock.  On  this  ac- 
count the  Siberian  peasants  rarely  destroy  a  litter,  but  hamstring  the  young  wolves  and  then 
catch  them  when  partly  grown,  and  kill  them  for  the  sake  of  their  fur.  Among  the  ingenious 
methods  used  for  shooting  wolves  in  Siberia  is  that  of  killing  them  from  sledges.  A  steady  horse 
is  harnessed  to  a  sledge,  and  the  driver  takes  his  seat  in  front  as  usual.  Behind  sit  two  men 
armed  with  guns,  and  provided  with  a  small  pig,  which  is  induced  to  squeak  often  and  loudly. 
In  the  rear  of  the  sledge  a  bag  of  hay  is  trailed  on  a  long  rope.  Any  wolf  in  the  forest  near 
which  hears  the  pig  concludes  that  it  is  a  young  wild  one  separated  from  its  mother.  Seeing  the 
hay-bag  trailing  behind  the  sledge  in  the  dusk,  it  leaps  out  to  seize  it,  and  is  shot  by  the  passen- 
gers sitting  on  the  back  seat  of  the  sledge. 


92        THE    LIVING    ANIMALS    OF    THE    WORLD 


Ph,to  Ij  L.  Midland,  F.Z.S]  [N.rth  FinMtj 

NORTH    AFRICAN   JACKAL 

Thii  is  the  common  jackal  of  Cairo  and  Lower  Egypt 


THE  JACKAL 

Of  the  Wild  Canine  Family,  the  JACK; 
is  the  next  in  numbers  and  importance  to 
wolves.  Probably  in  the  East  it  is  the  me 
numerous  of  any.  In  India,  Egypt,  and  Syr 
it  regularly  haunts  the  outskirts  of  cities,  and 
lives  on  refuse.  In  the  Indian  plains  wounded 
animals  are  also  killed  by  the  jackals.  At  night 
the  creatures  assemble  in  packs,  and  scour  the 
outskirts  of  the  cities.  Horrible  are  the 
howlings  and  weird  the  cries  of  these  hungry 
packs.  In  Ceylon  they  live  in  the  hills  and 
open  country  like  foxes,  and  kill  the  hares. 
When  taken  young  jackals  can  be  tamed,  and 
have  all  the  manners  of  a  dog.  They  wag 
their  tails,  fawn  on  their  master,  roll  over  and 
stick  up  their  paws,  and  could  probably  be 
domesticated  in  a  few  generations,  were  it 
worth  while.  They  eat  fruits  and  vegetables, 
such  as  melons  and  pumpkins,  eagerly. 
In  Africa  two  species  are  found — the  BLACK-BACKED  JACKAL  and  the  STRIPED  JACKAL  ;  the 

lormer  is  the  size  of  a  large  English  fox.     The  young  jackals  are  born  in  holes  or  earths ;  six 

seems  to  be  the  usual  number  of  puppies.     They  have  nearly  always  a  back  door  by  which  they 

can  escape ;  this  is  just  large  enough  for  the  puppies  to  squeeze  through,  whatever  their  size. 

When  fox-terriers  are  put  into  the  earth,  the  jackal  puppies  fly  out  of  their  back  doors,  through 

which,  as  a  rule,  the  terriers   are  unable  to  follow  them.     Should  there  be  no  one  outside,  the 

puppies  race  out  on  to  the  veldt  as  hard  as  they  can  go.     This  jackal  is  terribly  destructive  to 

sheep  and  lambs  in  the  Colony.     A  reward  of 

$1.80  per  tail  is  paid  to  the  Kaffirs  for  killing 

them.     The  SIDE-STRIPED  JACKAL  is  a  Central 

African  species,  said  to  hunt  in  packs,  to  inter- 
breed with   domestic  dogs,   and  to  be  most 

easily  tamed. 

Both  in  India  and  South  Africa  the  jackal 

hctt-  been  found  to  be  of  some  service  to  the 

white  man  by  providing  him  with  a  substitute 

for  the  fox  to  hunt.     It  has  quite  as  remarkable 

powers  of  endurance  as  the  fox,  though  it  does 

not  fight  in  the  same  determined  way  when 

the  hounds  overtake  it.     But  it  is  not  easy  to 

estimate  the  courage  of  a  fox  when  in  diffi- 
culties.     The   writer  has   known   one,  when 

coursed  by  two  large  greyhounds,  to  disable 

both  almost  instantaneously.     One  was  bitten 

across  the  muzzle,  the  other  through  the  foot. 

The  fox  escaped  without  a  bite  from  either.     In 

India  the  hounds  used  are  drafts  from  English 

packs.     The  hot  weather  does  not  suit  them,         """  *'  *  *'  Rudl""d  *"  S°"' 

and  they  are  seldom  long-lived ;  but  while  they  .  ,    ..     ,    ,.          ..„    R  jvara  Ktp- 

3         This  Indian  jackal  might  be  sitting  for  his  portrait  in  Mr.  Rudyard  H'p- 
m    health  they  Will  run  a  jackal  acrOSS  the        ling's  tale  of  the  "  undertakers"  —the  jackal,  alligator,  and  adjutant 


THE    DOG    FAMILY 


93 


Indian  plains  as  gaily  as  they  would  a 
fox  over  the  Hampshire  Downs.  The 
meet  is  very  early  in  the  morning,  as  the 
scent  then  lies,  and  riding  is  not  too 
great  an  exertion.  The  ground  drawn 
is  not  the  familiar  English  covert,  but 
fields,  watercourses,  and  old  buildings. 
A  strong  dog-jackal  goes  away  at  a 
great  pace,  and  as  the  ground  is  open  the 
animal  is  often  in  view  for  the  greater 
part  of  the  run  ;  but  it  keeps  well  ahead 
of  the  hounds  often  for  three  or  four 
miles,  and  if  it  does  not  escape  into  a 
hole  or  ruin  is  usually  pulled  down  by 
them.  Major-General  R.  S.  S.  Baden- 
Powell  has  written  and  illustrated  an 
amusing  account  of  his  days  with  the 
fox-hounds  of  South  Africa  hunting 
jackals.  The  local  Boer  farmers,  rough, 
unkempt,  and  in  ragged  trousers,  used 
to  turn  up  smoking  their  pipes  to  enjoy 
the  sport  with  the  smartly  got-up  English 
officers.  When  once  the  game  was 
found,  they  were  just  as  excited  as  the 
Englishmen,  and  on  their  Boer  ponies 
rode  just  as  hard,  and  with  perhaps 
more  judgment. 


rnoto  bj  L.  Mtdland,  F.Z.S.] 

TURKISH    JACKAL 

This  Jackal  is  common  in  both  Turkey  in  Europe  and  in  Asia.  Afc.  • 
Constantinople  it  feeds  largely  on  the  bodies  buried  in  the  cemeteries  at 
Scutari 


Photo  by  A.    S.  Rudland  &>  Sent 

MANED   WOLF 

A  South  American  animal ;  its  coat  is  a  chestnut-red 


Jackals  are  said  to  be  much  increasing 
in  South  Africa  since  the  outbreak  of  the 
war.  The  fighting  has  so  far  arrested 
farming  operations  that  the  war  usually 
maintained  on  all  beasts  which  destroy  cattle 
or  sheep  has  been  allowed  to  drop.  In  parts 
of  the  more  hilly  districts  both  the  jackal 
and  the  leopard  are  reappearing  where  they 
have  not  been  common  for  years,  and  it  will 
take  some  time  before  these  enemies  of  the 
farmer  are  destroyed. 

THE  MANED  WOLF 

This  is  by  far  the  largest  of  several 
peculiar  South  American  species  of  the  Dog 
Family  which  we  have  not  room  to  mention. 
It  occurs  in  Paraguay  and  adjoining  regions, 
and  is  easily  distinguishable  by  its  long  limbs 
and  large  ears.  It  is  chestnut-red  in  colour, 
with  the  lower  part  of  the  legs  black,  and  is 
solitary  in  its  habits. 


94 


THE    LIVING    ANIMALS    OF    THE    WORLD 


Phttt  by  A.  S.  RudUnd  &•  Sim 

WILD    DOG 

These  animals  range  from  the  plains  of  India  and  Burma  to  the  Tibetan  Plateau  and  Siberia. 
They  hunt  in  small  packs,  usually  by  day,  and  are  -very  destructive  to  game,  but  seldom  attack 
domestic  animals 


THE  WILD  DOG  OF  AFRICA, 
OR  CAPE  HUNTING-DOG 

This  is  a  most  interest- 
ing creature,  differing  from 
the  true  dogs  in  having 
only  four  toes  on  both  fore 
and  hind  feet,  and  in  being 
spotted  like  a  hyaena. 
These  dogs  are  the  scourge 
of  African  game,  hunting 
in  packs.  Long  of  limb 
and  swift  of  foot,  incessantly 
restless,  with  an  overpower- 
ing desire  to  snap  and  bite 
from  mere  animal  spirits,  the 
Cape  wild  dog,  even  when 
in  captivity  and  attached  to 
its  master,  is  an  intractable 
beast.  In  its  native  state  it 
kills  the  farmers'  cattle  and  sheep  and  the  largest  antelopes.  A  pack  has  been  seen  to  kill  and 
devour  to  the  last  morsel  a  large  buck  in  fifteen  minutes.  Drummond  says  :  "  It  is  a  marvelous 
sight  to  see  a  pack  of  them  hunting,  drawing  cover  after  cover,  their  sharp  bell-like  note  ringing 
through  the  air,  while  a  few  of  the  fastest  of  their  number  take  up  their  places  along  the 
expected  line  of  the  run,  the  wind,  the  nature  of  the  ground,  and  the  habits  of  the  game  being 
all  taken  into  consideration  with  wonderful  skill."  The  same  writer  says  that  he  has  seen 
them  dash  into  a  herd  of  cattle  feeding  not  a  hundred  yards  from  the  house,  drive  out  a 
beast,  disappear  over  a  rising  ground,  kill  it,  and  pick  its  bones  before  a  horse  could  be  saddled 

and  ridden  to  the  place. 

THE  INDIAN  WILD  DOGS 

Mr.  Rudyard  Kipling's 
stories  of  the  "  Dhole,"  the  red 
dogs  of  the  Indian  jungle,  have 
made  the  world  familiar  with 
these  ferocious  and  wonderfully 
bold  wild  dogs.  There  is  very 
little  doubt  that  they  were  found 
in  historic  times  in  Asia  Minor. 
Possibly  the  surviving  stories  of 
the  "  Gabriel  hounds  "  and  other 
ghostly  packs  driving  deer  alone 
in  the  German  and  Russian 
forests,  tales  which  remain  even 
in  remote  parts  of  England,  are 
a  survival  of  the  days  when  the 
wild  dogs  lived  in  Europe.  At 
present  there  is  one  species  of 
^^^  long-haired  wild  dog  in  West 

he  -wild  dog  of  Australia.      I,  -was  found  there  by   the  first   discoverers,  but  -was  probably        Central      Siberia.          ThcSC 

introduced  from  elsewhere 


DINGO 


[Parson '}  Gree 


• 


95 


Photo  by  A.  S.  Rudland  &*  Sons 

CAPE    HUNTING-DOG 

This  animal  Aunts  in  packs.     It  is  -very  active  and  most  destructive  to  large  game 
of  many  kinds 


96         THE    LIVING    ANIMALS    OF   THE    WORLD 

killed  nearly  all  the  deer  in  the  large 
forests  near  Omsk  some  years  ago. 
Across  the  Himalaya  there  are  several 
species,  one  of  them  as  far  east  as 
Burma ;  but  the  most  famous  are  the 
RED  DOGS  OF  THE  DECCAN.  They 
frequent  both  the  jungles  and  the 
hills  ;  but  their  favourite  haunt  is  the 
uplands  of  the  Indian  Ghats.  They 
are  larger  than  a  jackal,  much 
stronger,  and  hunt  in  packs.  They 
have  only  ten  teeth  on  each  side, 
instead  of  eleven,  as  in  the  other 
dogs  and  foxes.  There  is  no  doubt 
that  these  fierce  hunting-dogs  actually 
take  prey  from  the  tiger's  jaws,  and 
probably  attack  the  tiger  itself.  They 
will  beset  a  tiger  at  any  time,  and  the  latter  seems  to  have  learnt  from  them  an  instinctive  fear 
of  dogs.  Not  so  the  leopard,  which,  being  able  to  climb,  has  nothing  to  fear  even  from  the 
"  dhole."  A  coffee-planter,  inspecting  his  grounds,  heard  a  curious  noise  in  the  forest  bordering 
his  estate.  On  going  round  the  corner  of  a  thick  bush,  he  almost  trod  on  the  tail  of  a  tiger 
standing  with  his  back  towards  him.  He  silently  retreated,  but  as  he  did  so  he  saw  that  there 
was  a  pack  of  wild  dogs  a  few  paces  in  front  of  the  tiger,  yelping  at  him,  and  making  the 
peculiar  noise  which  had  previously  attracted  his  attention.  Having  procured  a  rifle,  he 
returned  with  some  of  his  men  to  the  spot.  The  tiger  was  gone,  but  they  disturbed  a  large 
pack  of  wild  dogs  feeding  on  the  body  of  a  stag.  This,  on  examination,  proved  to  have  been 
killed  by  the  tiger,  for  there  were  the  marks  of  the  teeth  in  its  neck.  The  dogs  had  clearly 
driven  the  tiger  from  his  prey  and  appropriated  it.  The  dread  of  the  tiger  for  these  wild  dogs 
was  discovered  by  the  sportsmen  of  the  Nil'giri  Hills,  and  put  to  a  good  use.  They  used  to 
collect  scratch  packs  and  hunt  up  tigers  in  the  woods.  The  tiger,  thinking  they  were  the 
dreaded  wild  pack,  would  either  leave  altogether  or  scramble  into  a  tree.  As  tigers  never  do 
this  ordinarily,  it  shows  how  wild  dogs  get  on  their  nerves. 

Several  South  American  wild  dogs  and  foxes  are  included  in  the  series  with  the  wolves  and 
jackals.  Among  these  are  AZARA'S  DOG  and  the  RACCOON-DOG.  These  are  commonly  called 
foxes,  though  they  have  wolf-like  skulls. 


THE  DINGO 

The  only  non-marsupial  animal  of  Australia  when  the  continent  was  discovered  was  the 
WILD  DOG,  or  DINGO.  Its  origin  is  not  known ;  but  as  soon  as  the  settlers'  flocks  and  herds  be- 
gan to  increase  its  ravages  were  most  serious,  though  doubtless  some  of  the  havoc  with  which  it 
was  accredited  was  due  in  a  great  measure  to  runaways  from  domestication.  Anyhow,  in  the 
dingo  the  settlers  found  the  most  formidable  enemy  with  which  they  had  to  contend,  and  vigor- 
ous measures  were  taken  to  reduce  their  numbers  and  minimise  their  ravages,  so  that  by  now 
they  are  nearly  exterminated  in  Van  Diemen's  Land  and  rare  on  the  mainland  of  Australia. 

It  is  a  fine,  bold  dog,  of  considerable  size,  generally  long-coated,  of  a  light  tan  colour,  and 
with  pncked-up  ears.  It  is  easily  tamed,  and  some  of  those  kept  in  this  country  have  made  af- 
fectionate pets.  Puppies  are  regularly  bred  and  sold  at  the  Zoological  Gardens.  The  animal 
has  an  elongated,  flat  head  which  is  carried  high  ;  the  fur  is  soft,  and  the  tail  bushy.  In  the  wild 
state  it  is  very  muscular  and  fierce. 


THE    DOG    FAMILY 


97 


THE  FOXES 

FOXES  form  a  very  well-marked  group.  They  have  very  pointed  muzzles,  strong  though 
slightly  built  bodies,  very  fine  thick  fur,  often  beautifully  coloured  and  very  valuable,  bushy  tails, 
pricked-up  ears,  and  eyes  with  pupils  which  contract  by  day  into  a  mere  slit.  They  are  quite 
distinct  from  dogs  (although  wolves  are  not),  and  will  not  interbreed,  though  stories  are  told  to 
the  contrary.  The  smell  of  a  fox  is  disgusting  to  a  dog;  and  quite  sufficient  to  distinguish  it. 

If  the  present  writer  takes  a  simpler  view  of  the  kinds  and  species  of  foxes  than  that 
adopted  by  many  naturalists,  he  must  plead  to  a  study  of  the  subject  on  slightly  different  lines 
than  those  usually  followed.  The  skins  of  all  foxes  are  valuable,  some  more  than  others.  But 
they  are  sent  in  hundreds  of  thousands,  and  from  all  parts  of  the  northern  hemisphere,  to 
London  to  the  great  fur-sales.  There  these  differences  can  be  studied  as  they  can  be  studied 


Photo  by  C.  Rtid] 


FOX    CUBS 

Fox  cubs  are  born  Jrom  March  25  tilt  three  "weeks  later,  the  time  -when  young  rabbits,  their  best  food,  are  most  numerous 


,  N.  B. 


nowhere  else.  As  the  habits  and  structure  of  foxes  are  much  alike,  allowing  for  differences 
of  climate,  and  the  discrepancies  in  size,  not  more  than  can  be  accounted  for  by  abundance  or 
scarcity  of  food,  it  seems  pretty  certain  that  these  animals  are  some  of  the  few,  almost  alone 
among  mammals,  showing  almost  every  variety  of  colouring,  from  black  to  white,  from  splendid 
chameleon-red  to  salmon-pink,  and  many  exquisite  shades  of  brown,  gray,  and  silver.  At  the 
Hudson  Bay  Company's  sales  you  may  see  them  all,  and  trace  the  differences  and  gradations  over 
whole  continents.  The  most  important  are  those  of  North  America.  There  the  RED  CANADIAN 
Fox,  of  a  ruddier  hue  than  brown,  shades  off  into  the  yellow  and  gray  CROSS  Fox  of  farther  north. 
But  of  these  there  are  many  varieties.  Then  farther  north  still  comes  an  area  where  red  foxes, 
cross  foxes,  and  black  foxes  are  found.  The  black  fox,  when  the  fur  is  slightly  sprinkled  with 
white,  is  the  famous  SILVER  Fox.  This  and  the  black  fox  are  also  found  in  North  Siberia 
and  Manchuria.  Farthest  north  we  find  the  little  stunted  ARCTIC  FOXES.  In  the  Caucasus 
and  Central  Asia  large  yellowish-red  foxes  live,  and  in  Japan  and  China  a  very  bright  red 
variety.  A  small  gray  fox  lives  in  Virginia,  and  is  hunted  with  hounds  descended  from  packs 


98         THE    LIVING    ANIMALS    OF    THE    WORLD 


the    East,    from 


Photo  b}  G.  If.  Wilson  &*  Co.,  Ltd.] 

MOUNTAIN-FOX 

In  hilly  countries  the  fox  becomes  a  powerful  and  destructive  animal,  killing  not  only  game 

but  lambs 


taken  out  before  the  American  Revolution.  India  has 
its  small  DESERT-FOXES  ("  the  little  foxes  that  eat  the 
grapes  ")  and  the  BENGAL  Fox. 

The   value   of  the   foxes  as  fur-bearing  animals  is 
immense.     Only  white,  blue,  and  black  skins  seem  to  be 
appreciated    here.      The    black   fox    has   been    known 
to   fetch   $750  a   skin.     But   in 
Minor  to  China,  red,  gray,  and 
yellow  fox  skins  are  the  lining 
of  every  rich  man's  winter  wraps. 
Splendid  mixed  robes  are  made 
by  the  Chinese  by  inserting  por- 
tions of  cross  fox-skins  into  coats 
of  cut  sable,  giving  the  idea  that 
it  is  the  fur  of  a  new  animal. 

The  COMMON  Fox,  the 
foundation  or  type  of  all  the 
above,  is  the  best  known  carnivorous  animal  in  this  country.  Abroad  its  habits  do  not 
greatly  differ,  except  that,  not  being  hunted  much  with  hounds,  it  is  less  completely  nocturnal. 
It  drops  its  young  in  an  earth  early  in  April.  Thither  the  vixen  carries  food  till  late  in  June, 
when  the  cubs  come  out,  and  often  move  to  a  wood  or  a  corn-field.  There  they  are  still  fed, 
but  learn  to  do  a  little  on  their  own  account  by  catching  mice  and  moles.  By  late  September 
the  hounds  come  cub-hunting,  partly  to  kill  off  superfluous  foxes,  partly  to  educate  the  young 
hounds,  and  to  teach  the  foxes  to  fear  them  and  to  make  them  leave  cover  easily.  Four  or  five 
cubs  in  a  litter  are  commonly  seen.  The  distance  which  a  fox  will  run  is  extraordinary.  The 
following  is  a  true  account  of  one  of  the  most  remarkable  runs  ever  known.  The  hounds 
were  those  of  Mr.  Tom  Smith,  master  of  the  Hambledon  Hunt.  He  was  the  man  of  whom 
another  famous  sportsman  said  that  if  he  were  a  fox  he  should  prefer  to  be  hunted  by  a  pack 
of  hounds  rather  than  by  Tom  Smith  with  a  stick  in  his  hand.  The  fox  was  found  in  a  cover 
called  Markwells,  at  one  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  in  December,  near  Petersfield.  It  crossed  into 
Sussex,  and  ran  into  an  earth  in  Graf  ham  Hill  a  little  before  dark.  The  fox  had  gone  twenty- 
seven  miles.  The  hounds  had  forty  miles  to  go  back  to  kennel  that  night,  and  three  only 
found  their  way  home  four  days  afterwards.  Dog-foxes  assemble  in  considerable  numbers 

when  a  vixen  is  about  in  spring,  and 


Photo  b)  C.  Reid] 


LEICESTERSHIRE    FOX 


at  all  times  common  foxes  are  sociable 
creatures,  though  not  actually  living 
in  societies.  Sometimes  as  many  as 
five  or  six  are  found  in  a  single  earth. 
Two  years  ago  five  foxes  and  a  badger 
were  found  in  one  near  Romford. 
They  eat  mice,  beetles,  rats,  birds, 
game,  poultry,  and  frogs.  Their 
favourite  food  is  rabbits.  If  there 
are  plenty  of  these,  they  will  not 
touch  other  game.  They  hunt  along 
the  railway-lines  for  dead  birds 
killed  by  the  telegraph-wires.  In  the 
New  Forest  they  also  go  down  to  the 
shore  and  pick  up  dead  fish.  One  in 
the  writer's  possession  was  shot  when 


Phati  by  Ottomar  jtnschutx] 


TOO    DIFFICULT  ! 


Foxes  can  easily  climb  trees  with  small  projecting  branches.     One  -was  found  J7  feet  up  a  tree  in  Sa-vernake  Forest ;   but  a  branchless  stump  such 

at  that  here  sht/'wn  no  fox  could  climb 

99 


ioo         THE    LIVING 


fhott  by  Scholastic  Photo.  Co.] 


In  summer 


ARCTIC    FOX 

Changing  his  coat 


n'j  Grim 


In  "winter 


The  Arctic  Fox  is  one  of  the  few  animals  showing  different  phases  of  colour,  some  being  blue  at  all  seasons,  -while  others  are  -white  in  -winter  and 

mottled  brownish  in  summer 

carrying  away  a  lamb  from  a  sheepfold  near  the  cliffs  of  Sidmouth,  in  Devon.     The  shepherd 
thought  it  was  a  marauding  dog,  and  lay  in  wait  with  a  gun. 

THE  ARCTIC  Fox 

The  ARCTIC  Fox  is  somewhat  different  in  habits  from  others.  It  is  also  much  smaller  than 
the  red  foxes.  Its  fur  is  almost  as  soft  as  eiderdown,  and  so  thick  that  the  cold  does  not  pene- 
trate. In  winter  the  whole  coat  changes  colour,  not  gradually,  but  in  patches.  At  the  same 
time  a  dense  growth  of  under-fur  comes  up  on  the  body.  In  summer  this  is  shed  in  patches, 
almost  like  loose  felt.  The  foxes  live  in  colonies,  but  are  so  hard  put  to  it  for  food  in  the  winter 
that  they  desert  their  homes  to  gather  round  whaling-ships  or  encampments.  There  they  steal 
everything  edible,  from  snow-shoe-thongs  to  seal-flesh.  Blue  foxes  are  bred  and  kept  for  the 
sake  of  their  fur  on  some  of  the  islands  in  Bering  Sea.  They  are  fed  on  the  flesh  of  the  seals 
killed  on  the  neighbouring  islands,  and  are,  like  them,  killed  when  their  coat  is  in  condition. 

THE  FENNECS 
Africa  has  a  group  of  small  foxes  of  its  own.     They  have  very  large  ears  and  dark  eyes. 


Some  of  them 
Maholis  and  other 
Several  are  not  more 
long ;  they  are  a 
but  the  eyes  are  very 
The  COMMON 
over  the  whole  of 
food  is  dates  and 
but  it  is  also  fond 
eat  mice  and  insects, 
original  hero  of  the 
and  the  grapes, 
fennec,  which  is 
the  SILVER  Fox,  is 
Cape  to  as  far 
It  is  23  inches 
mainly  on  insects 


Photo  by  A.  S.  Rudland  &•  Sons 

FENNEC-FOX 

Remarkable  for  the  great  size  of  the  ears.      An  African  species, 
senst  of  hearing  is  probably  -very  acute 


Its 


remind  us  of  the 
large-eyed  lemuroids. 
than  9  or  10  inches 
whitish-khaki  colour, 
dark  and  brilliant. 
FENNEC  is  found 
Africa.  Its  favourite 
any  sweet  fruit, 
of  eggs,  and  will 
It  is  probably  the 
story  of  the  fox 
The  large-eared 
sometimes  called 
found  from  the 
north  as  Abyssinia, 
long,  and  lives 
and  fruit. 


THE    DOG    FAMILY 


101 


DOMESTIC   DOGS 

BY    C.    H.    LANE 

THE  DOG,  almost  without  exception,  shows  a  marked  liking  for  the  society  of  human  beings, 
and  adapts  itself  to  their  ways  more  than  any  other  animal. 

Fox-,  Stag-,  and  Hare-hounds — the  latter  better  known  as  Hariers  and  Beagles — have  many 
points  in  common,  much  beauty  of  shape  and  colour,  and  great  suitability  for  their  work,  though 
differing  in  some  other  particulars. 

Another  group — Greyhounds,  Whippets,  Irish  Wolf-hounds,  Scottish  Deer  hounds,  all  of 
which  come  under  the  category  of  Gaze-hounds,  or  those  which  hunt  by  sight — are  built  for 
great  speed,  to  enable  them  to  cope  with  the  fleet  game  they  pursue.  In  the  same  group  should 
be  included  the  BORZOI,  or  Russian  Wolf-hound,  now  very  popular  in  this  country,  with  some- 
thing of  the  appearance  of  the  Scottish  deer-hound  about  it  as  to  shape,  but  with  a  finer,  longer 
head,  deeper  body,  more  muscular  limbs,  and  shaggier  in  the  hair  on  body  and  tail. 

The  OTTER-HOUND  is  one  of  the  most  picturesque  of  all  the  hound  tribe.  This  variety 
somewhat  reminds  one  of  a  large  and  leggy  Dandie  Dinmont  terrier,  with  a  touch  of  the  blood- 
hound, and  is  thought  to  have  been  originally  produced  from  a  cross  between  these  or  similar 
varieties. 

The  BLOOD-HOUND  is  another,  with  much  style  and  beauty  of  shape,  colour,  and  character 
about  it  which  cannot  fail  to  favourably  impress  any  beholden  The  matches  or  trials  which  have 
of  late  years  been  held  in  different  localities  have  been  most  interesting  in  proving  its  ability  for 
tracking  footsteps  for  long  distances,  merely  following  them  by  scent,  some  time  after  the  person 
hunted  started  on  the  trail.  By  the  kindness  of  my  friend  Mr.  E.  Brough,  I  am  able  to  give  as 
an  illustration  a  portrait  of  what  he  considers  the  best  blood-hound  ever  bred. 

Much  valued  by  sportsmen  with  the  gun  are  POINTERS,  so  called  from  their  habit  of  remain- 
ing in  a  fixed  position  when  their  quarry  is  discovered,  eagerly  pointing  in  its  direction  until  the 
arrival  of  the  guns.  They  are  most  often  white,  with  liver,  lemon,  or  black  markings;  but  occa- 
sionally self-colours,  such  as  liver  or  black,  are  met  with.  They  have  been  largely  bred  in  the 


Pbttt  by  F.  H.  Dembrey\ 


[Briittl 


STAG-HOUND     PUPPIES 

This  gi"ves  an  interesting  group  of  hounds  in  kennel 


102 


THE    LIVING    ANIMALS    OF    THE    WORLD 


Phot,  by  T.  Fall-] 


west  of  England.  I  have 
been  fortunate  in  obtaining 
one  of  Mr.  E.  C.  Norrish's 
celebrated  strain  as  a  typical 
specimen  for  illustration. 

The  SETTER  group,  which 
comprises  three  varieties,  are 
all  useful  and  beautiful  in 
their  way.  The  English  are 
usually  white,  with  markings 
or  tickings  of  blue,  lemon, 
or  black ;  they  are  rather 
long  and  narrow  in  the  head, 
with  bodies  and  sterns  well 
feathered,  and  are  graceful 
and  active  movers.  Gordon 
setters,  which  are  always 
black  and  tan  in  colour,  and 
preferred  without  any  white, 
are  generally  larger  and 
stronger  in  build  than  the 
last-named.  Irish  setters  are 
more  on  the  lines  of  the 
English,  being  a  rich  tawny 


\_Baktr  Strttt 

GREYHOUND 

A  typical  specimen  of  this  elegant  variety 

red   in  colour,  rather  higher  on  the  leg,  with  narrow  skulls,  glossy  coats,  feathered  legs  and 
stern,  ears  set  low  and  lying  back,  and  lustrous,  expressive  eyes. 

RETRIEVERS  may  be  divided  into  flat-coated  and  curly-coated.  Both  are  usually  black, 
but  other  colours  are  occasionally  seen.  The  coats  of  the  first-named  are  full,  but  without 
curl  in  them;  while  the  latter  have  their  bodies,  heads,  legs,  thighs,  and  even  tails  covered 
with  small  close  curls.  The  eyes  of  both  should  be  dark,  and  the  ears  carried  closely  to  the 
sides  of  the  head.  In  an  article  dealing  with  retrievers,  which  appeared  in  the  Cornhill  Maga- 
zine under  the  title  of  "  Dogs  which  Earn  their  Living,"  the  author  writes  :  "  There  is  not  the 
slightest  doubt  that  in  the  modern  retrievers  acquired  habits,  certainly  one  acquired  habit,  that 
of  fetching  dead  and  wounded  game,  are  transmitted  directly.  The  puppies  sometimes  retrieve 
without  being  taught,  though  with  this  they  also  combine  a  greatly  improved  capacity  for  further 
teaching.  Recently  a  retriever  was  sent  after  a  winged  partridge  which  had  run  into  a  ditch. 
The  dog  followed  it  some  way  down  the  ditch,  and  presently  came  out  with  an  old  rusty  tea- 
kettle, held  in  its  mouth  by  the  handle.  The  kettle  was  taken  from  the  dog,  amid  much 
laughter ;  then  it  was  found  that  inside  the  kettle  was  the  partridge  !  The  explanation  was  that 
the  bird,  when  wounded,  ran  into  the  ditch,  which  was  narrow.  In  the  ditch  was  the  old  kettle, 
with  no  lid  on.  Into  this  the  bird  crept;  and  as  the  dog  could  not  get  the  bird  out,  it  very 
properly  brought  out  the  kettle  with  the  bird  in  it.  Among  dogs  which  earn  their  living,  these 
good  retrievers  deserve  a  place  in  the  front  rank."  The  illustration  shows  a  good  flat-coated 
retriever  at  work. 

The  SPANIEL  group  is  rather  large,  including  the  English  and  Irish  water-spaniels,  the 
former  an  old-fashioned,  useful  sort,  often  liver  or  roan,  with  some  white  or  other  markings, 
and  a  good  deal  of  curl  in  the  coat  and  on  the  ears.  His  Irish  brother  is  always  some  shade  of 
liver  in  colour,  larger  in  the  body  and  higher  on  the  leg,  covered  with  a  curly  coat,  except  on  the 
tail,  which  is  nearly  bare  of  hair,  with  a  profusion  of  hair  on  the  top  of  the  head,  often  hanging 
down  over  the  eyes,  giving  a  comical  appearance,  and  increasing  his  Hibernian  expression.  They 


Phcle  bj  C. 


,  N.  B 


RETRIEVER 

TAis  represents  a  flat-coated  retriever  at  -work,  and  is  remarkably  true  to  life 
103 


104 


THE    LIVING    ANIMALS    OF    THE    WORLD 


make  lively,  affectionate  companions  and 
grand  assistants  at  waterfowl-shooting. 

CLUMBER  SPANIELS  are  always  a 
creamy  white,  with  lemon  or  light  tan 
markings,  and  are  rather  slow  and  de- 
liberate in  their  movements,  but  have  a 
stylish,  high-class  look  about  them. 

SUSSEX  SPANIELS  are  also  rather  heavy 
in  build  and  of  muscular  frame,  but  can  do 
a  day's  work  with  most  others.  They  are 
a  rich  copper-red  in  colour,  with  low 
short  bodies,  long  feathered  ears,  full  eyes 
of  deep  colour,  and  are  very  handsome. 

BLACK  SPANIELS  should  be  glossy 
raven-black  in  colour,  with  strong 
muscular  bodies  on  strong  short  legs, 
long  pendulous  ears,  and  expressive  eyes. 
Good  specimens  are  in  high  favour,  and 
command  long  prices.  I  regret  I  cannot 
find  room  for  an  illustration  of  this  breed, 
so  deservedly  popular. 

COCKERS,  which  are  shorter  in  the  back,  higher  on  the  leg,  and  lighter  in  weight,  being 
usually  under  25  Ibs.,  are  very  popular,  full  of  life,  and  very  attractive  in  appearance. 

BASSET-HOUNDS,  both  rough-and  smooth-coated,  are  probably  the  most  muscular  dogs  in 
existence  of  their  height,  with  much  dignity  about  them.  In  the  Sporting  Teams  at  the 
Royal  Agricultural  Hall  there  were  some  thirteen  or  fifteen  teams  of  all  kinds  of  sporting 
dogs,  and  of  these  a  team  each  of  rough  and  smooth  bassets  was  in  the  first  four. 

DACHSHUNDS  are  often  erroneously  treated  as  Sporting  Dogs.  There  are  certainly  not  so 
many  supporters  of  the  breed  as  formerly.  Their  lean  heads,  with  long  hanging  ears,  long  low 
bodies,  and  crooked  fore  legs,  give  them  a  quaint  appearance.  The  colours  are  usually  shades 
of  chestnut-red  or  black  and  tan ;  but  some  are  seen  chocolate  and  "  dappled,"  which  is  one 
shade  of  reddish  brown,  with  spots  and  blotches  of  a  darker  shade  all  over  it. 

GREAT  DANES,  though  mostly  classed  amongst  Non-sporting  Dogs,  have  much  of  the  hound 
in  their  bearing  and  appearance.  The  whole-coloured  are  not  so  popular  as  the  various  shades 
of  brindle  and  harlequin,  but  I  have  seen  many  beautiful  fawns,  blues,  and  other  whole  colours. 


BLOOD-HOUND 

This  photograph  shoivs  "what  an  a/most  perfect  blood-hound  should  be  like 


Photo  by  E.  Landor] 


[Ealing 


ENGLISH    SETTER 

^  typical  but  rather  coarse  specimen  of  a  beautiful  'variety 


SMOOTH-COATED    SAINT    BERNARD 

The  illustration  gives  a  capital  idea  of  these  handsome  dogs 


THE     DOG    FAMILY 


They  are  being  bred  with  small  natural  drooping  ears.  One  of  the  first  I  remember  seeing 
exhibited  was  a  large  harlequin  belonging  to  the  late  Mr.  Frank  Adcock,  with  the  appropriate 
name  of  "  Satan,"  as,  although  always  shown  muzzled,  he  required  the  attentions  of  three  or  four 
keepers  to  deal  with  him  ;  and  at  one  show  I  attended  he  overpowered  his  keepers,  got  one  of 
them  on  the  ground,  tore  his  jacket  off,  and  gave  him  a  rough  handling. 

NON-SPORTING  VARIETIES. 

SAINT  BERNARDS,  although 
sometimes  exceeding  3  feet  at 
the  shoulder,  are  as  a  rule  very 
docile  and  good-tempered,  and 
many  are  owned  by  ladies.  The 
coat  may  be  rough  or  smooth, 
according  to  taste;  but  either 
are  splendid  animals.  They  are 
sometimes  seen  self-coloured, 
but  those  with  markings — shades 
of  rich  red,  with  white  and 
black,  for  preference — are  the 
handsomest.  They  are  still  used 
as  "  first  aids  "  in  the  snow  on 
the  Swiss  mountains.  So  far  as 
I  remember,  this  is  the  only 
breed  of  dog  used  for  stud  and 
exhibition  for  which  as  much  as 
$7,500  has  been  paid  ;  and  this 
has  occurred  on  more  than  one 
occasion. 

NEWFOUNDLANDS  have  re- 
gained their  place  in  popularity,  and  many  good  blacks  and  black-and-whites  can  now  be  seen. 
Numerous  cases  are  on  record  of  their  rendering  aid  to  persons  in  danger  of  drowning,  and 
establishing  communication  with  wrecked  vessels  and  the  shore. 

MASTIFFS  are  looked  on  as  one  of  the  national  breeds.  Their  commanding  presence  and 
stately  manner  make  them  highly  suitable  as  guards,  and  they  are  credited  with  much  attach- 
ment and  devotion  to  their  owners.  The 
colours  are  mostly  shades  of  fawn  with  black 
muzzle,  or  shades  of  brindle.  I  am  able  to 
give  the  portrait  of  one  of  the  best  speci- 
mens living,  belonging  to  Mr.  R.  Leadbeater. 
BULL-DOGS  are  also  regarded  as  a  national 
breed.  They  are  at  present  in  high  favour. 
The  sizes  and  colours  are  so  various  that  all 
tastes  can  be  satisfied.  Recently  there  has 
been  a  fancy  for  toy  bull-dogs,  limited  to  22 
Ibs.  in  weight,  mostly  with  upright  ears 
of  tulip  shape.  In  spite  of  the  many 

aspersions    on   their  character,  bull-dogs    are  ,Bj^r  ^ 

usually    easy-going  and  good-tempered,  and  DACHSUND 

are  Often  Very  fastidious  feeders what  fanciers  The  photograph  conveys  a  fair  idea  of  these  quaint  dogs 

call  "  bad  doers." 


Phot,  by  Frattlli  Alinari} 


GREAT    DANE 


[  Florence 


This  shows  a  typical  specimen  of  this  breed,  "with  cropped  ears,  "which  -will  be  dis- 
continued in   shoio   dors 


io6         THE    LIVING    ANIMALS    OF    THE    WORLD 


ROUGH  COLLIES  are  very 
graceful,  interesting  creatures, 
and  stand  first  in  intelligence 
among  canines.  They  are 
highly  popular.  Several  have 
been  sold  for  over  $5,000,  and 
the  amounts  in  prize-money 
and  fees  obtained  by  some  of 
the  "  cracks  "  would  surprise 
persons  not  in  "  the  fancy."  A 
high-bred  specimen  "  in  coat" 
is  most  beautiful.  The  colours 
most  favoured  are  sables  with 
white  markings ;  but  black, 
white,  and  tans,  known  as 

4<  tricolors,"  are  pleasing  and  effective.  I  quite  hoped  to  give  a  portrait  of  one  of  the  most  perfect 
of  present-day  champions,  belonging  to  H.  H.  the  Princess  de  Montglyon,but  could  not  find  room. 
SMOOTH  COLLIES  are  a  handsome  breed,  full  of  grace,  beauty,  and  intelligence,  and  very 
active  and  lively.  A  favourite  colour  is  merle,  a  sort  of  lavender,  with  black  markings  and  tan 
and  white  in  parts,  usually  associated  with  one  or  both  eyes  china-coloured.  Specimens  often 
win  in  sheep-dog  trials  ;  a  bitch  of  mine  won  many  such,  and  was  more  intelligent  in  other  ways 
than  many  human  beings. 

OLD  ENGLISH  SHEEP-DOGS  are  a  most  fascinating  breed,  remarkably  active,  possessed  of 
much   endurance  and   resource,  and  very  faithful  and  affectionate.     I  have  often  made  long 


Photo  by  Kitchintr  Portrait  Co. 


DALMATIANS 

AU  art  typical,  but  thefrst  is  the  best  in  quality  and  marking 


Photo  by  T.  Fall] 


[Baiter  Street 


NEWFOUNDLAND 

£kt  dog  sAo-u'n  here  gives  a  good  idea  of  size  and  character,  but  is  not  in  best  coat 


THE    DOG    FAMILY 


107 


journeys  through  cross-country  roads  accompanied  by  one  or  more  of  them,  and  never  knew 
them  miss  me,  even  on  the  darkest  night  or  in  the  crowded  streets  of  a  large  town.  The 
favourite  colour  is  pigeon-blue,  with  white  collar  and  markings.  The  coat  should  be  straight  and 
hard  in  texture.  The  illustration  is  from  a  portrait  of  one  of  the  best  bitches  ever  shown, 
belonging  to  Sir  H.  de  Trafford. 

DALMATIANS  are  always  white,  with  black,  liver,  or  lemon  spots,  the  size  of  a  shilling  or  less, 
evenly  distributed  over  the  body,  head,  ears,  and  even  tail,  and  pure,  without  mixture  of  white. 
There  is  much  of  the  pointer  about  this  variety,  which  has  long  been  used  for  sporting  purposes 
on  the  continent  of  Europe.  I  can  testify  to  their  many  good  qualities  as  companions  and 
house-dogs.  To  quote  again  from  the  article  above  mentioned :  "  It  is  commonly  believed  that 
the  spotted  carriage-dogs  once  so  frequently  kept  in  stables  were  about  the  most  useless 


Pfcofo  by  T.  Fair] 


BULL-DOGS 

The  photograph  is  remarkably  good  and  characterise  of  thit  variety 


\_Balttr  Street 


creatures  of  the  dog  kind,  maintained  only  for  show  and  fashion.  This  is  a  mistake.  They  were 
used  at  a  time  when  a  traveling-carriage  carried,  besides  its  owners,  a  large  amount  of  valuable 
property,  and  the  dog  watched  the  carriage  at  night  when  the  owners  were  sleeping  at  country 
inns.  We  feel  we  owe  an  apology  to  the  race  of  carriage-dogs.  .  .  .  While  this  dog  is 
becoming  extinct,  in  spite  of  his  useful  qualities,  other  breeds  are  invading  spheres  of  work  in 
which  they  had  formerly  no  part."  There  is  only  one  point  in  which  I  differ  from  the  above, 
and  that  is  contained  in  the  last  sentence.  There  are  a  number  of  enthusiastic  breeders  very 
keen  on  reviving  interest  in  this  variety,  and  I  have  during  the  last  few  years  had  large  entries  to 
judge,  so  that  we  shall  probably  see  more  of  them  in  the  future. 

POODLES  are  of  many  sizes  and  colours.  They  are  very  intelligent,  easily  taught  tricks,  and 
much  used  as  performing  dogs.  They  have  various  kinds  of  coats  :  corded,  in  which  the  hair 
hangs  in  long  strands  of  ringlets  ;  curly,  with  a  profusion  of  short  curls  all  over  them,  something 


io8          THE    LIVING    ANIMALS    OF    THE    WORLD 


OLD    ENGLISH    SHEEP-DOG 

This  is  a  remarkably  fine  f  holograph  of  a  'well-known  specimen  of  this 
interesting  -variety 


like  retrievers ;  and  fluffy,  when  the  hair  is 
combed  out,  to  give  much  the  appearance  of 
fleecy  wool.  A  part  of  the  body,  legs,  head, 
and  tail  is  usually  shorn. 

BULL-TERRIERS  are  now  bred  with  small 
natural  drooping  ears,  and  should  have  long 
wedge-shaped  heads,  fine  coats,  and  long 
tails.  There  is  also  a  toy  variety,  which 
hitherto  has  suffered  from  round  skulls  and 
tulip  ears,  but  is  rapidly  improving.  I  have 
bred  many  as  small  as  3  Ibs.  in  weight.  In 
each  variety  the  colour  preferred  is  pure 
white,  without  any  markings,  and  with  fine 
tapering  tails. 

IRISH  TERRIERS  are  very  popular,  and 
should  be  nearly  wholly  red  in  colour,  with 
long  lean  heads,  small  drooping  ears,  hard 
coats,  not  too  much  leg,  and  without  coarse- 
ness. They  make  good  comrades. 
BEDLINGTON  TERRIERS  have  long  been  popular  in  the  extreme  north  of  England,  and  are 
another  fighting  breed.  It  is  indeed  often  difficult  to  avoid  a  difference  of  opinion  between  show 
competitors.  Their  lean  long  heads,  rather  domed  skulls,  with  top-knot  of  lighter  hair,  long 
pointed  ears,  and  small  dark  eyes,  give  them  a  peculiar  appearance.  The  coats,  which  are 
"  linty  "  in  texture,  should  be  shades  of  blue  or  liver. 

Three  breeds,  all  more  or  less  hard  in  coat-texture,  and  grizzled  in  colour  on  heads  and  bodies, 
while  tanned  on  other  parts,  are  AIREDALE,  OLD  ENGLISH,  and  WELSH  TERRIERS,  which  may  be 
divided  into  large,  medium,  and  small.  The  first-named  make  very  good  all  round  dogs ;  the 
Old  English,  less  in  number,  make  useful  dogs,  and  are  hardy  and  companionable ;  while  Welsh 
terriers  are  much  the  size  of  a  small  wire-haired  fox-terrier,  but  usually  shorter  and  somewhat 
thicker  in  the  head.  I  intended  one  of  Mr.  W.  S.  Glynn's  best  dogs  to  illustrate  the  last-named. 
FOX-TERRIERS  are  both  smooth-  and  wire-haired.  Their  convenient  size  and  lively  tempera- 
ment make  them  very  popular  as  pets  and  companions  for  both  sexes  and  all  ages.  The  colour 
is  invariably  white,  with  or  without  markings  on  head  or  body,  or  both. 

BLACK-AND-TAN  and  WHITE  ENGLISH 
TERRIERS  are  built  upon  the  same  lines, 
differing  chiefly  in  colour,  the  former  being 
raven-black,  with  tan  markings  on  face,  legs, 
and  some  lower  parts  of  the  body,  and  the 
latter  pure  white  all  over.  Both  should  have 
small  natural  drooping  ears,  fine  glossy  coats, 
and  tapering  sterns.  The  toy  variety  of  the 
former  should  be  a  miniature  of  the  larger, 
and  is  very  difficult  to  produce  of  first-class 
quality. 

SCOTTISH  TERRIERS  are  very  interesting, 
often  with  much  "  character "  about  them. 
The  usual  colours  are  black,  shades  of  gray, 
or  brindle,  but  some  are  seen  fawn,  stone- 
bolt  upright,  the  coat  as  hard  as  a  badger's, 


MASTIFF 

>es  almost   an  ideal  picture  of  this  splendid  breed,  the 
being  known  as  black-brindie 


Phtt,  b}  Lambtrt  Lambirt]  [Bath 

DEER-HOUND 

Thii  it  a  cafital  fartrait  tfcnt  nf  tht  but  ifthitg ractful  uaritty 


Ph,!,  by  a.  CtrnhH]  [Cndittn 

POINTER 

Thit  it  a  young  dog  not  yet  shown,  but  full  of  quality  and  type 


Photo  b)  yHiitrt  6*  SOBJ]  [Ntwfart 

SKYE    TERRIER 

The  photograph  is  of  a  "well-known  winner  in  show  form 


that  by  '/".  tan]  [Baktr  Stntt 

CORDED    POODLE 

The  length  of  the  cords  of -which  the  coat  is  composed  is  clearly  shown 


B,  firminion  >j  Mrs.  HM-Walkir  pntt,  by  Kitchtntr  if  Salmon]  [Btnd  Strut 

POMERANIAN  SCOTTISH    TERRIER 

Probably  about  the  best  all-black  Toy  Pomeranian  ever  shown  A  smart  picture  of  one  of  the  best  of  these  popular  dogs 


Ph,i,  by  G.  N.  Tar/or]  \_Ciwlt,  Rtad 

MALTESE    TOY    TERRIER 

"very  excellent  representation  of  one  of  the  best  specimens  of  the 
present  day 


fhtti  by  E.  Lander]  [Ealing 

BUTTERFLY-DOG 

The  photograph  gives  an  excellent  idea  of  this  tomewAat  rare  variety 


IOC) 


I  1O 


THE    LIVING    ANIMALS    OF    THE    WORLD 


Ptitt,  *r  T.  Fair]  [BaltrSlritt 

HER      MAJESTY      QUEEN      ALEXANDRA, 
WITH    CHOW   AND   JAPANESE   SPANIELS 


teeth  even,  small  dark  expressive  eyes,  fore 
legs  straight,  the  back  short.  One  I  brought 
from  Skye  many  years  since  I  took  with  me 
when  driving  some  miles  into  the  country; 
coming  back  by  a  different  route,  he  missed 
me;  but  on  nearing  my  starting-point  I 
found  him  posted  at  a  juncture  of  four  roads, 
by  one  of  which  I  must  return.  He  could 
not  have  selected  a  better  position.  The  illu- 
stration is  that  of  a  first-rate  specimen  of  the 
variety,  "  Champion  Balmacron  Thistle." 

DANDIE  DINMONT  TERRIERS  have  many 
quaint  and  charming  ways.  They  are  very 
strongly  built,  being  among  the  most  muscular 
of  the  terriers,  of  high  courage,  devotedly 
attached  to  their  owners,  and  admirably 
adapted  for  companions,  being  suitable  for 
indoors  or  out,  and  at  home  anywhere.  The 
colours  are  pepper  (a  sort  of  darkish  iron- 
gray)  and  mustard  (a  yellowish  red  fawn), 
both  with  white  silky  hair  on  head,  called  the 
top-knot,  and  lustrous  dark  eyes,  very  gipsy- 
like  and  independent  in  expression. 

SKYES,  both  PRICK-  and  DROP-EARED,  are  another  Scottish  breed  which  well  deserve  their 
popularity,  as  they  are  thorough  sporting  animals.  The  colours  are  chiefly  shades  of  dark  or  light 
gray,  but  sometimes  fawn  with  dark  points  and  whites  are  seen.  The  texture  of  coat  should 
be  hard  and  weather-resisting  ;  the  eyes  dark  and  keen  in  expression  ;  bodies  long,  low,  and  well 
knit  ;  legs  straight  in  front  ;  even  mouths  ;  tails  carried  gaily,  but  not  curled  over  the  back. 

SCHIPPERKES  are  of  Belgian  origin.  To  those  who  do  not  know  them,  they  are  something- 
like  medium-sized  Pomeranians,  short  of  coat,  but  without  tails.  They  are  nearly  always  pure 
black  in  colour,  with  coats  of  hardish  texture,  fullest  round  the  neck  and  shoulders,  the  ears 
standing  straight  up  like  darts,  short  cobby  bodies,  and  straight  legs.  They  make  smart  guards 
and  companions. 

CHOWS  originally  came  from  China,  but  are  now  largely  bred  here.  They  are  square-built 
sturdy  dogs,  with  dense  coats,  tails  carried  over  the  side,  blunt-pointed  ears,  and  rather  short 

thick  heads.  They  have  a  little  of  a  large  coarse  Pomeranian, 
with  something  of  an  Eskimo  about  them,  but  are  different 
from  either,  with  a  type  of  their  own.  The  colour  is  usually 
some  shade  of  red  or  black,  often  with  a  bluish  tinge  in  it. 
One  marked  peculiarity  is  that  the  tongues  of  chows  are  blue- 
black  in  colour. 

POMERANIANS  can  be  procured  of  any  weight  from  3  to 
30   Ibs.,   and  of  almost  every  shade  of  colour.     At  present 
brown   of  various  shades  is  much  in  favour,  but  there  are 
many  beautiful  whites,  blacks,  blues,  sables,  and  others. 
are  very  sharp  and  lively,  and  make  charming  pets  and  com- 
panions.     Really  good  specimens  command  high  prices. 
inustration  is   of  one  of  the  best  of  his  colour  ever  seen— 

„  /-u  TV  » 

"  Champion  Pippin. 

'     .       r  ,    ,,       i  u   r     u-  A 

PUGS,  both  fawn  and  black,  are  old-fashioned 


T.  rait] 
SAND 


LBatir  Str 


DOG 

a  quaint  picture  of  a  quaint  -variety  ,  quite  h  air- 

/<«,  and  much  the  colour  of  Caoi/e  soaj> 


THE    DOG    FAMILY 


ill 


very  quaint  and  peculiar  in  appearance.  They  should  have  square 
heads  and  muzzles,  with  small  ears,  large  protruding  eyes,  short 
thick  bodies,  and  tails  tightly  curled  over  the  back.  The  illus- 
tration, "  Duchess  of  Connaught,"  is  of  a  well-known  winner. 

MALTESE  TERRIERS  are  very  beautiful  when  pure  bred. 
They  have  a  long  straight  coat  of  silky  white  hair  nearly 
reaching  the  ground,  black  nose  and  eyes,  and  the  tail  curled 
over  the  back  of  their  short  cobby  body.  Their  beauty  well 
repays  the  trouble  of  keeping  them  in  good  condition.  The 
illustration,  from  a  photograph  taken  for  this  article,  is  that 
of  the  high-class  dog  "  Santa  Klaus." 

YORKSHIRE  TOY  TERRIERS,  with  their  steel-blue  bodies 
and  golden-tanned  faces,  legs,  and  lower  parts,  and  long 
straight  coats,  require  skilful  attention  to  keep  in  order,  but 
are  very  attractive  as  pets. 

TOY  SPANIELS  are  very  old  members  of  the  toy  division, 
dating  from  or  before  the  time  of  King  Charles:  KING 
CHARLES  SPANIELS  being  black  and  tan ;  PRINCE  CHARLES 
SPANIELS  black,  white,  and  tan  ;  another  strain,  the  BLENHEIM, 
white,  with  shades  of  reddish-tan  markings  on  the  head  and 

body,  and  a  spot  of  same  colour  on  forehead  ;  and  the  RUBY,  a  rich  coppery  red  all  over.  They 
should  be  small  and  stout  in  size  and  shape,  without  coarseness,  long  in  the  ear,  with  large  full 
protruding  eyes  of  dark  colour,  a  short  face,  a  straight  coat,  and  not  leggy. 

JAPANESE  SPANIELS  carry  heavy  coats,  usually  black,  or  yellow,  and  white  in  colour,  shorter  in 
the  ears,  which  are  carried  more  forward  than  in  the  last-named,  broader  in  the  muzzle,  with 
nearly  flat  faces,  dark  eyes,  and  bushy  tails  carried  over  the  back.  They  have  very  short  legs, 
and  their  hair  nearly  reaches  the  ground  as  they  walk.  When  I  kept  them  they  were  much 
larger  in  size,  but  they  are  often  now  produced  under  6  Ibs.  in  weight. 

PEKIN  SPANIELS,  the  last  of  the  toy  spaniels  I  need  mention,  come  from  China.  They 
should  have  soft  fluffy  coats,  tails  inclined  to  turn  over  the  back,  short  faces,  broad  muzzles,  large 
lustrous  eyes,  and  a  grave,  dignified  expression.  The  colour  is  usually  some  shade  of  tawny 
fawn  or  drab,  but  I  have  seen  them  black  and  dark  brown ;  whatever  colour,  it  should  be  without 
white.  The  illustration,  Mrs.  Lindsay's  "  Tartan  Plaid,"  was  one  of  the  early  importations. 


Photo  by  County  if  Gloucuttr  Sludit,  Chiltinham 

PUG   AND    PEKINESE    SPANIEL 

A  typical  portrait  of  t-wo  -well-known  -winners  in 
these  popular  -varietiet 


Photo  by  C.  Riid} 


,  ff.  B. 


FOX-TERRIER 

A  picture  full  of  life  and  go — at  present  odds  in  favour  of  our  friend  -with  the  prickly  coat 


Photo  b}  E.  Landir] 


BLENHEIM    AND    PRINCE    CHARLES    SPANIELS 

This  little  group  "will  serve  to  shoiv  the  appearance  of  these  charming  little  pets 


lEaling 


ITALIAN  GREYHOUNDS,  another  old-fashioned  variety  of  toy  dog,  should  not  exceed  12  Ibs. 
in  weight,  but  in  my  opinion  are  better  if  they  are  some  pounds  less.  Much  like  miniature 
greyhounds  in  shape  and  build,  they  are  elegant,  graceful  little  creatures,  very  sensitive  to  cold. 
Shades  of  fawn,  cream,  or  French  gray  are  most  common ;  but  some  are  slate-blue,  chestnut-red, 
and  other  tints.  Of  late  years  the  breed  has  met  with  more  encouragement,  and  there  is  less 
fear  of  its  being  allowed  to  die  out. 

GRIFFONS  BRUSSELOIS  have  been  greatly  taken  up  the  last  few  years.  They  are  something 
like  Yorkshire  toy  terriers  in  size  and  shape,  but  with  a  shortish  harsh  coat,  generally  of  some 
shade  of  reddish  brown,  very  short  face,  small  shining  dark  eyes,  heavy  under-jaw,  short  thick 
body,  and  an  altogether  comical  appearance.  Imported  specimens,  particularly  before  reaching 
maturity,  are  often  difficult  to  rear. 

The  AFRICAN  SAND-DOG  occasionally  seen  in  this  country  (mostly  at  shows)  is  remarkable 
for  being  entirely  hairless,  except  a  few  hairs  of  a  bristly  character  on  the  top  of  the  head  and 


a  slight  tuft  at  the  end  of  the  tail ; 
in  colour,  something  in  shape  and 
terrier,  and  very  susceptible  to 
Having  been  supplied  with  an 
will  say  a  few  words  about  this 
numbers  at  Constantinople  and 
roam  about  unclaimed,  and  act  as 
to  divide  the  places  they  inhabit  into 
leader,  and  resent  any  interference 
cases  where  they  have  made  a  de- 
late at  night ;  but  they  are  rather  a 
with  a  little  firmness  on  the  part  of 
the  descendants  of  the  dogs  so  often 
probrium ;  and,  among  Eastern  peo- 
now  the  most  insulting  epithet  that 
ancient  times,  the  dog  never  seems 
hunting  and  pursuing  game  and 
guardian  of  their  flocks,  herds,  and 


Photo  by  tht  Duchtsi  of  Bedford, 
H^oburn  Abbiy 

PARIAH    PUPPIES 

This  capital  photograph  of  a 
•variety  seldom  seen  in  this  country 
will  be  "very  interesting 


it  is  chiefly  blue-black  or  mottled 
size  like  a  coarse  black-and-tan 
cold. 

illustration  of  PARIAH  PUPPIES,  I 
variety,  which  is  seen  in  large 
other  Eastern  cities,  where  they 
amateur  scavengers  ;  they  are  said 
districts  or  beats,  each  with  its  own 
with  their  authority.  I  have  known 
termined  attack  on  travelers  out 
cowardly  race,  and  easily  repulsed 
the  attacked.  Probably  these  are 
mentioned  in  Scripture  with  op- 
pies,  to  call  a  man  "  a  dog"  is  even 
can  be  used.  By  the  Jews,  in 
to  have  been  used,  as  with  us,  in 
wild  animals,  but  merely  as  a 
sometimes  dwellings. 


Photo  bf  Ottomar 


COMMON    BROWN    BEAR 

In  Scandinavia  a  fnu  still  haunt  the  highest  mountain-ridgcit  at  here 
113 


\_Birlin 


CHAPTER     VI 


E 


THE  BEJRS 

XCEPT  the  great  cats,  no  creatures  have  longer  held  a  place  in 
human  interest  than  the  BEARS.  Their  size  and  formidable 
equipment  of  claws  and  teeth  give  the  touch  of  fear  which 
goes  with  admiration.  On  the  other  hand,  they  do  not,  as  a  rule,  molest 
human  beings,  who  see  them  employing  their  great  strength  on  appar- 
ently insignificant  objects  with  some  amusement.  Except  one  species, 
most  bears  are  largely  fruit  and  vegetable  feeders.  The  sloth-bear  of 
India  sucks  up  ants  and  grubs  with  its  funnel-like  lips ;  the  Malayan  bear 
is  a  honey-eater  by  profession,  scarcely  touching  other  food  when  it  can 
get  the  bees'  store ;  and  only  the  great  polar  bear  is  entirely  carnivorous. 
The  grizzly  bear  of  the  Northern  Rocky  mountains  is  largely  a  flesh 
eater,  consuming  great  quantities  of  putrid  salmon  in  the  Columbian 
rivers.  But  the  ice-bear  is  ever  on  the  quest  for  living  or  dead  flesh ; 
it  catches  seals,  de- 
vours young  sea- 
fowl  and  eggs,  and 
can  actually  kill 
and  eat  the  gigantic 
walrus. 

Every  one  will 
have  noticed  the 
deliberate  flat- 
footed  walk  of  the 
bears.  This  is  due 
partly  to  the  for- 
mation of  the  feet 
themselves.  The 
whole  sole  is  set  flat 
upon  the  ground, 

and  the  impressions  in  a  bear's  track  are  not 

unlike  those  of  a  man's  footsteps.     The  claws 

are  not  capable  of  being  retracted,  like  those 

of  the  Cats ;  consequently  they  are  worn  at 

the  tips  where  the  curve  brings  them  in  contact 

with  the  ground.     Yet  it  is  surprising  what 

wounds  these  blunt  but  hard  weapons  will  in- 
flict on  man — wounds  resembling  what  might 

be  caused  by  the  use  of  a  very  large  garden- 
rake.    Against  other  animals  protected  by  hair 

bears'  claws  are  of  little  use.      Dogs  would 

never  attack  them  so  readily  as  they  do  were 

they  armed  with  the  talons  of  a  leopard  or  tiger. 

The  flesh-teeth  in  both  jaws  of  the  bear  are 


-.£. :'>        a^ _U*Sd 

Photo  by  Ottomar  dnschutx,,  Berlin 

AN    INVITING 
ATTITUDE 

The  upright  position  is  not  natu- 
ral to  the  broiun  bear.  It  prefers 
to  sit  on  its  hams,  and  not  to  stand 


Photo  by  Frattlli  Alinari} 

THREE    PERFORMING    BEARS 

Those  on  the  right  and  left  are  Himalayan  black  bears.      The 


collar  is  plainly  seen 


114 


THE    BEARS 


unlike  those  of  other  carnivora. 
The  teeth  generally  show  that 
bears  have  a  mixed  diet. 
Bears  appear  to  have  de- 
scended from  some  dog-like 
ancestor,  but  to  have  been 
much  modified. 

Except  the  ice-bear,  all 
the  species  are  short  and  very 
bulky.  It  is  said  that  a  polar 
bear  has  been  killed  which 
weighed  1,000  Ibs.  It  is  far 
the  largest,  and  most  formida- 
ble in  some  respects,  of  all  the 
carnivora.  The  claws  of  the 
grizzly  bear  are  sometimes  5 
inches  long  over  the  outer 
curve.  All  bears  can  sit  up- 
right on  their  hams,  and  stand 
upright  against  a  support  like  a 
tree.  Some  can  stand  upright 
with  no  aid  at  all.  Except  the 
grizzly  bear,  they  can  all  climb, 
many  of  them  very  well.  In 
the  winter,  if  it  be  cold,  they 
hibernate.  In  the  spring,  when 
the  shoots  of  the  early  plants 
come  up,  they  emerge,  hungry 
and  thin,  to  seek  their  food. 
Bears  were  formerly  common 
in  Britain,  and  were  exported 
for  the  Roman  amphitheatres. 
The  prehistoric  cave-bears 
were  very  large.  Their  re- 
mains have  been  found  in  Devon,  Derbyshire,  and  other  counties!  The  species  inhabiting  Britain 
during  the  Roman  period  was  the  common  brown  bear  of  Europe. 

THE  COMMON  BROWN  BEAR. 

Only  one  species  of  bear  is  found  in  Europe  south  of  the  ice-line,  though  above  it  the  white 
ice-bear  inhabits  Spitzbergen  and  the  islands  off  the  White  Sea.  This  is  the  BROWN  BEAR,  the 
emblem  of  Russia  in  all  European  caricature,  and  the  hero  of  innumerable  fragments  of  folk- 
lore and  fable,  from  the  tents  of  the  Lapps  to  the  nurseries  of  American  children.  Except  the  ice- 
bear,  it  is  far  the  largest  of  European  carnivora,  but  varies  much  in  size.  Russia  is  the  main  home 
of  the  brown  bear,  but  it  is  found  in  Sweden  and  Norway,  and  right  across  Northern  Asia.  It  is  also 
common  in  the  Carpathian  Mountains, inthe  Caucasus, and  in  Mount  Pindusin  Greece.  IntheSouth 
it  is  found  in  Spain  and  the  Pyrenees,  and  a  few  are  left  in  the  Alps.  The  dancing-bears  commonly 
brought  to  England  and  America  are  caught  in  the  Pyrenees.  The  "  Queen's  bear,"  so  called 
because  its  owner  was  allowed  to  exhibit  it  at  Windsor,  was  one  of  these.  But  lately  dancing- 
bears  fromServia  and  Wallachia  have  also  been  seen  about  our  roads  and  streets.  In  Russia  the  bear 
grows  to  a  great  size.  Some  have  been  killed  of  800  Ibs.  in  weight.  The  fur  is  magnificent  in 


Photo  by   Otto 


jtmchitat] 

EUROPEAN    BROWN    BEAR 


The  specimen  of  the  broivn  bear  of  Europe  from  -which  this  picture  -was  taken  -was  an  unusually 
light  and  active  bear.      Its  faith  are  almoit  flat 


no       THE    LIVING    ANIMALS    OF    THE    WORLD 


Phtto  by  E.  LanJtr] 


SYRIAN    BEAR 

This  is  the  bear  generally  alluded  to  in  the  Old  Testament 


winter,  and  in  great  demand 
for  rich  Russians'  sledge-rugs. 
The  finest  bear-skins  of  all  are 
bought  for  the  caps  of  the 
Grenadier  and  Coldstream 
Guards.  In  the  Alps  the  bears 
occasionally  visit  a  cow-shed 
in  winter  and  kill  a  cow ;  but 
as  a  rule  the  only  damage  done 
by  those  in  Europe  is  to  the 
sheep  on  the  hills  in  the  far 
north  of  Norway.  Tame  brown 
bears  are  amusing  creatures, 
but  should  never  be  trusted. 
They  are  always  liable  to  turn 
savage,  and  the  bite  is  almost 
as  severe  as  that  of  a  tiger. 
Men  have  had  their  heads 
completely  crushed  in  by  the 
bite  of  one  of  these  animals. 
In  Russia  bears  are  shot  in  the  following  manner.  When  the  snow  falls,  the  bears  retire  into  the 
densest  thickets,  and  there  make  a  half-hut,  half-burrow  in  the  most  tangled  part  to  hibernate  in. 
The  bear  is  tracked,  and  then  a  ring  made  round  the  cover  by  beaters  and  peasants.  The 
shooters  follow  the  track  and  rouse  the  bear,  which  often  charges  them,  and  is  forthwith  shot. 
If  it  escapes,  it  is  driven  in  by  the  beaters  outside.  High  fees  are  paid  to  peasants  who  send 
information  that  a  bear  is  harboured  in  this  way.  Sportsmen  in  St.  Petersburg  will  go  300  or 
400  miles  to  shoot  one  on  receipt  of  a  telegram. 

The  brown  bear,  like  the  reindeer  and  red  deer, 
is  found  very  little  modified  all  across  Northern  Asia, 
and  again  in  the  forests  of  North  America.  There, 
however,  it  undergoes  a  change.  Just  as  the  red  deer 
is  found  represented  by  a  much  larger  creature,  the 
wapiti,  so  the  brown  bear  is  found  exaggerated  into 
the  great  bear  of  Alaska.  The  species  attains  its 
largest,  possibly,  in  Kamchatka,  on  the  Asiatic  side 
of  Bering  Sea  ;  but  the  Alaskan  bear  has  the  credit 
with  sportsmen  of  being  the  largest.  A  skin  of  one  of 
the  former,  brought  to  the  sale-rooms  of  Sir  Charles 
Lampson  &  Co.,  needed  two  men  to  carry  it.  Last 
spring,  in  the  sale-rooms  of  the  same  great  firm,  some 
persons  present  measured  the  skin  of  an  Alaskan  bear 
which  was  9  feet  across  the  shoulders  from  paw  to  paw. 

THE  GRIZZLY  BEAR. 

This  is  a  very  distinct  race  of  brown  bear.  It  has 
a  flat  profile,  like  the  polar  bear ;  in  addition  it  grow 
to  a  great  size,  is  barely  able  to  climb  trees,  and  has  the 
largest  claws  of  any— they  have  been  known  to  meas- 
ure 5  inches  along  the  curve.  The  true  grizzly,  which 
used  to  be  found  as  far  north  as  61°  latitude  and  south 


rhet,  by  IT.  D.  Dandc]  [Regent's  Part 

LARGE  RUSSIAN   BROWN   BEAR 

The  picture  shows  to  ivhat  a  size  and  strength  the 
broion  bear  attains 


THE    BEARS 


117 


as  far  as  Mexico,  is  a  rare  animal  now.  Its  turn  for  cattle-killing  made  the  ranchmen  poison  it, 
and  rendered  the  task  an  easy  one.  It  is  now  only  found  in  the  Northern  Rocky  Mountains,  and 
perhaps  in  North  California  and  Nevada.  Formerly  encounters  with  "  Old  Ephraim,"  as  the 
trappers  called  this  bear,  were  numerous  and  deadly.  It  attacked  men  if  attacked  by  them,  and 
often  without  provocation.  The  horse,  perhaps  more  than  its  rider,  was  the  object  of  the  bear. 
A  great  furrier  measured  a  grizzly  which  was  9  feet  long  from  nose  to  tail.  The  weight  some- 
times reaches  800  Ibs.  Measurements  of  much  larger  grizzly  bears  have  been  recorded,  but 
it  is  difficult  to  credit  them.  On  a  ranche  near  the  upper  waters  of  the  Colorado  River  several 
colts  were  taken  by  grizzly  bears.  One  of  them  was  found  buried  according  to  the  custom  of 
this  bear,  and  the  owner  sat  up  to  shoot  the  animal.  Having  only  the  old-fashioned  small-bored 
rifle  of  the  day,  excellent  for  shooting  deer  or  Indians,  but  useless  against  so  massive  a  beast  as 
this  bear,  unless  hit  in  the  head  or  heart,  he  only  wounded  it.  The  bear  rushed  in,  struck  him  a 
blow  with  its  paw  (the  paw  measures  a  foot  across),  smashed  the  rifle  which  he  held  up  as  a 
protection,  and  struck  the  barrel  on  to  his  head.  The  man  fell  insensible,  when  the  bear,  having 
satisfied  himself  that  he  was  dead,  picked  him  up,  carried  him  off,  and  buried  him  in  another 
hole  which  it  scratched  near  the  dead  colt.  It  then  dug  up  the  colt  and  ate  part  of  it,  and  went 
off.  Some  time  later  the  man  came  to  his  senses,  and  awoke  to  find  himself  "  dead  and  buried." 
As  the  earth  was  only  roughly  thrown  over  him,  he  scrambled  out,  and  saw  close  by  the  half- 
eaten  remains  of  the  colt.  Thinking  that  it  might  be  about  the  bear's  dinner-time,  and  remem- 
bering that  he  was  probably  put  by  in  the  larder  for  the  next  meal,  he  hurried  home  at  once,  and 
did  not  trouble  the  bear  again.  Not  so  a  Siberian  peasant,  who  had  much  the  same  adventure. 
He  had  been  laughed  at  for  wishing  to  shoot  a  bear,  and  went  out  in  the  woods  to  do  so.  The 
bear  had  the  best  of  it,  knocked  him 
down,  and  so  frightfully  mangled  his  arm 
that  he  fainted.  Bruin  then  buried  him 
in  orthodox  bear  fashion  ;  and  the  man, 
when  he  came  to,  which  he  fortunately 
did  before  the  bear  came  back,  got  up, 
and  made  his  way  to  the  village.  There 
he  was  for  a  long  time  ill,  and  all  through 
his  sickness  and  delirium  talked  of  noth- 
ing but  shooting  the  bear.  When  he 
got  well,  he  disappeared  into  the  forest 
with  his  gun,  and  after  a  short  absence 
returned  with  the  bear's  skin  ! 

THE  AMERICAN  BROWN  BEAR. 

The  brown  bear  of  America  is  closely 
allied  to  that  of  Europe ;  it  was  first  de- 
scribed by  Sir  John  Richardson,  who 
called  it  the  Barrenlands  Bear,  and  noted, 
quite  rightly,  that  it  differed  from  the 
grizzly  in  the  smallness  of  its  claws.  The 
difference  in  the  profile  is  very  marked — 
the  brown  bear  having  a  profile  like  that 
of  the  European  bear,  while  that  of  the 
grizzly  is  flat.  The  brown  bear  of  North 

,  ,  , ,          ,.       ..  ,  Phutt  kf  Kiw  Tcrh  Z 

America  lives  largely  on  the  fruits  and  AMERICAN   BLACK  BEAR 

berries    Of  the    northern    plants,  On    dead  The  bjack  ^,r  W<M  the  sf>ecies  frit  encountered  by  the  early  tettlen  on  the 

deer,  and  On  putrid  fish,  Ot  Which  quanti-  Atlantic  udt  of  America.     The  grimly  belong*  to  the  Rocky  Mountain  region 


n8        THE    LIVING    ANIMALS    OF    THE    WORLD 


Photo  by  L.  Midland,  F.Z.S.]  [North  Finchlej 

YOUNG    SYRIAN    BEAR    FROM    THE    CAUCASUS 

This  is,  properly  speaking,  a  Syrian  tear,  but  the  species  is  found  in  the  Caucasus  and  in  the  Taurus 

Range 


ties  are  left  on  the  banks  of 
the  northern  rivers.  Whether 
the  large  brown  bear  of  the 
Rocky  Mountains  is  always 
a  grizzly  or  often  this  less  for- 
midable race  is  doubtful.  The 
writer  inclines  to  think  that 
it  is  only  the  counterpart  of 
the  North  European  and  the 
North  Asiatic  brown  bear. 
The  following  is  Sir  Samuel 
Baker's  account  of  these 
bears.  He  says  :  "  When  I 
was  in  California,  experienced 
informants  told  me  that  no 

^rue    p-fizzlv    bear    Was    to   be 

found  east  of  the  Pacific  slope. 
There  are  numerous  bears  of  three  if  not  four  kinds  in  the  Rocky  Mountains.  These  are 
frequently  termed  grizzlies ;  but  it  is  a  misnomer.  The  true  grizzly  is  far  superior  in  size,  but  of 
similar  habits,  and  its  weight  is  from  1,200  Ibs.  to  1,400  Ibs."  After  giving  various  reasons  for 
believing  this  to  be  a  fair  weight,  Sir  Samuel  Baker  adds  that  this  weight  is  equivalent  to  that 
of  a  large  cart-horse.  There  are  certainly  three  Rocky  Mountain  bears — the  Grizzly,  the 
Brown,  and  the  small  Black  Bear.  There  is  probably  also  another — a  cross  between  the 
black  and  the  brown.  It  is  ridiculous  to  say  that  the  brown  bears  which  come  to  eat  the 
refuse  on  the  dust-heaps  of  the  hotels  of  the  Yellowstone  Park,  and  let  ladies  photograph  them, 
are  savage  grizzly  bears. 

THE  SYRIAN  BEAR. 

This  bear,  which  figures  in  the  story  of  Elisha,  is  a  variety  of  the  brown  bear.  It  is  found 
from  the  Caucasus  to  the  mountains  of  Palestine,  and  is  a  smaller  animal  than  the  true  brown 
bear,  weighing  about  300  Ibs.  The  fur  in  summer  is  of  a  mixed  rusty  colour,  with  a  whitish 
collar  on  the  chest.  It  steals  the  grapes  on  Mount  Horeb,  and  feeds  upon  ripe  fruits,  apples, 
chestnuts,  corn,  and  the  like.  It  is  then  ready  to  face  the  long  winter  sleep. 

THE  AMERICAN  BLACK  BEAR. 

This  is  the  smallest  North  American  species,  and  perhaps  the  most  harmless.  It  seldom 
weighs  more  than  400  Ibs.  Its  coat  is  short  and  glossy,  and  its  flesh,  especially  in  autumn,  is 
esteemed  for  food.  The  early  backwoodsmen  found  it  a  troublesome  neighbour.  The  bears 
liked  Indian  corn,  and  were  not  averse  to  a  young  pig.  "  Like  the  deer,"  says  Audubon,  "  it 
changes  its  haunts  with  the  seasons,  and  for  the  same  reason — viz.  the  desire  of  obtaining  food. 
During  the  spring  months  it  searches  for  food  in  the  low  alluvial  lands  that  border  the  rivers,  or 
by  the  margins  of  the  inland  lakes.  There  it  procures  abundance  of  succulent  roots,  and  of  the 
tender,  juicy  stems  of  plants,  upon  which  it  chiefly  feeds  at  that  season.  During  the  summer 
heat  it  enters  the  gloomy  swamps,  and  passes  much  of  its  time  in  wallowing  in  the  mud  like  a 
hog,  and  contents  itself  with  crayfish,  roots,  and  nettles  ;  now  and  then,  when  hard  pressed  by 
hunger,  it  seizes  a  young  pig,  or  perhaps  a  sow  or  calf.  As  soon  as  the  different  kinds  of  berrie: 
ripen,  the  bears  betake  themselves  to  the  high  grounds,  followed  by  their  cubs.  In  much-retired 
parts  of  the  country,  where  there  are  no  hilly  grounds,  it  pays  visits  to  the  maize-fields,  which  it 
ravages  for  a  while.  After  this  the  various  kinds  of  nuts  and  grapes,  acorns  and  other  forest 


THE   BEARS 


119 


fruits,  attract  its  attention.     The  black  bear  is  then  seen  wandering  through  the  woods  to  gather 
this  harvest,  not  forgetting  to  rob  every  tree  which  it  comes  across." 

THE  INDIAN  SLOTH-BEAR. 

Few  people  would  believe  that  this  awkward  and  ugly  beast  is  so  formidable  as  it  is.  It  is 
the  commonest  Indian  species,  seldom  eats  flesh,  prefers  sucking  up  the  contents  of  a  white  ants' 
nest  to  any  other  meal,  and  is  not  very  large ;  from  200  Ibs.  to  300  Ibs.  is  the  weight  of  a  male. 
Hut  the  skull  and  jaws  are  very  strong,  and  the  claws  long  and  curved.  As  they  are  used  almost 
like  a  pickaxe  when  the  bear  wishes  to  dig  in  the  hardest  soil,  their  effect  upon  the  human  body 
can  be  imagined. 

Sir  Samuel  Baker  says  that  there  are  more  accidents  to  natives  of  India  and  Ceylon  from 
this  species  than  from  any  other  animal. 

Mr.  Watts  Jones  writes  an  interesting  account  of  his  sensations  while  being  bitten  by  one 


Phett  by  C.  Reid] 


,  N.B. 


A    BROWN    BEAR    IN    SEARCH    OF    INSECTS 

The  photograph  shows  a  bear  feeding  on  insects,  possibly  large  ants,  which  he  licks  up  from  the  ground,  after  scratching  them  out  with  his  claws 

of  these  bears :  "  I  was  following  up  a  bear  which  I  had  wounded,  and  rashly  went  to  the  mouth 
of  a  cave  to  which  it  had  got.  It  charged.  I  shot,  but  failed  to  stop  it.  I  do  not  know  exactly 
what  happened  next,  neither  does  my  hunter  who  was  with  me  ;  but  I  believe,  from  the  marks 
in  the  snow,  that  in  his  rush  the  bear  knocked  me  over  backwards — in  fact,  knocked  me  three  or 
four  feet  away.  When  next  I  remembered  anything,  the  bear's  weight  was  on  me,  and  he  was  bi- 
ting my  leg.  He  bit  two  or  three  times.  I  felt  the  flesh  crush,  but  I  felt  no  pain  at  all.  It  was 
rather  like  having  a  tooth  out  with  gas.  I  felt  no  particular  terror,  though  I  thought  the  bear 
had  got  me ;  but  in  a  hazy  sort  of  way  I  wondered  when  he  would  kill  me,  and  thought  what  a 
fool  I  was  to  get  killed  by  a  stupid  beast  like  a  bear.  The  shikari  then  very  pluckily  came  up 
and  fired  a  shot  into  the  bear,  and  he  left  me.  I  felt  the  weight  lift  off  me,  and  got  up.  I  did 
not  think  I  was  much  hurt.  .  .  .  The  main  wound  was  a  flap  of  flesh  torn  out  of  the  inside  of 
my  left  thigh  and  left  hanging.  It  was  fairly  deep,  and  I  could  see  all  the  muscles  working  under- 
neath when  I  lifted  it  up  to  clean  the  wound."  This  anecdote  was  sent  to  Mr.  J.  Crowther  Hirst 


I2O 


THE    LIVING    ANIMALS    OF    THE    WORLD 


[Flertnt 


Phtic  by  FrattlH  Minari} 

POLAR    BEARS 

Though  Arctic  animals,  polar  bears  can  endure  great  heat. 
During  a  "heat  wave"  at  Hamburg ,  Herr  C.  Hagenbeck 
found  two  of  his  leopards  suffering  from  heat  apoplexy,  but  the 
polar  heart  were  enjoying  the  sun 


to  illustrate  a  theory  of  his,  that  the  killing  of  wild 
animals  by  other  animals  is  not  a  painful  one. 

Rustem  Pasha,  once  Turkish  Ambassador  in 
England,  had  an  accident  when  brown  bear  shoot- 
ing in  Russia,  and  writes  of  it  in  the  same  sense : 
"  When  I  met  the  accident  alluded  to,  the  bear 
injured  both  my  hands,  but  did  not  tear  off  part  of 
the  arm  or  shoulder.  In  the  moment  of  desperate 
struggle,  the  intense  excitement  and  anger  did,  in 
fact,  render  me  insensible  to  the  feeling  of  actual 
pain  as  the  bear  gnawed  my  left  hand,  which  was 
badly  torn  and  perforated  with  holes,  most  of  th« 
bones  being  broken." 

There   is    good   reason   to  believe  that  wher 
large  carnivora,  or  beasts  large  in  proportion  to  tht 
size  of  their  victims,  strike  and  kill  them  with 
great  previous  shock,  the  sense  of  pain  is  deadenec 
Not   so  if  the  person  or  animal  is  seized  quietl) 
Then  the  pain  is  intense,  though  sometimes  onlj 
momentary.      A  tigress  seized  Mr.  J.  Hansard, 
forest  officer  in  Ceylon,  by  the  neck.     In  describing 
his  sensations  afterwards,  he  said :   "  The  agony  I 
felt  was  something  frightful.    My  whole  skull  seemed 
as  if  it  were  being  crushed  to  atoms  in  the  jaws  of 
the  great  brute.     I  certainly  felt  the  most  awful  pain 
as  she  was  biting  my  neck ;  but  not  afterwards,  if  I 
can    remember."      Sir   Samuel  Baker  says  he  has 


twice  seen  the  sloth-bear  attack  a  ho wdah -elephant.  Lord  Edward  St.  Maur,  son  of  the  Duke 
of  Somerset,  was  killed  by  one.  Mr.  Sanderson,  the  head  of  the  Government  Elephant-catching 
Department,  used  to  hunt  bears  in  the  jungle  with  bull-terriers.  Against  these  the  bear  was 
unable  to  make  a  good  fight.  They  seized  it  by  the  nose ;  and  as  its  claws  were  not  sharp  like 
those  of  the  leopard,  the  bear  could  not  get  them  off. 

This  bear  seldom  produces  more  than  two  or  three  young  at  a  birth.  The  young  cub  i? 
very  ugly,  but  very  strong,  especially  in  the  claws  and  legs.  A  six  weeks'  old  cub  has  been 
turned  upside-down  in  a  basket,  which  was  shaken  violently,  without  dislodging  the  little  animal 
clinging  inside. 

THE    ISABELLINE    BEAR   AND    HIMALAYAN    BLACK    BEAR. 

The  former  animal  is  a  medium-sized  variety  of  the  brown  bear.  The  coat  in  winter  is  of  a 
beautiful  silver-tipped  cinnamon  colour.  The  HIMALAYAN  BLACK  BEAR  has  a  half-moon  of  white  on 
its  throat.  The  habits  of  both  do  not  differ  markedly  from  those  of  the  brown  bear  of  Europe. 

Recently  black  bears  have  been  most  troublesome  in  Kashmir,  attacking  and  killing  and 
wounding  the  wood-cutters  with  no  provocation.  Dr.  E.  T.  Vere,  writing  from  Srinagar,  says: 
"  Every  year  we  have  about  half  a  dozen  patients  who  have  been  mauled  by  bears.  Most  of  our 
people  who  are  hurt  are  villagers  or  shepherds.  Bears  have  been  so  shot  at  in  Kashmir  that, 
although  not  naturally  very  fierce,  they  have  become  truculent.  When  they  attack  men,  they 
usually  sit  up  and  knock  the  victim  over  with  a  paw.  They  then  make  one  or  two  bites  at  the 
arm  or  leg,  and  often  finish  up  with  a  snap  at  the  head.  This  is  the  most  dangerous  part  of  the 
attack.  One  of  our  fatal  cases  this  year  was  a  boy,  the  vault  of  whose  skull  was  torn  off  and 
lacerated.  Another  man  received  a  compound  fracture  of  the  cranium.  A  third  had  the  bones 


Photo  by  f 'ratilli  Alinari} 


TWO    POLAR    BEARS    AND    A    BROWN    BEAR 


\_Flortnct 


Although  this  is  a  photograph  from  life,  it  is  scarcely  a  "very  natural  scene  ,•  as  a  matter  of  fact,  all  three  animals  belong  to  Herr  Carl 

Hagenbeck's  remarkable  menagerie 

16  121 


122 


THE    LIVING    ANIMALS   OF    THE   WORLD 


Photo  By  J.  fr.  Sicilian)  [Highbury 

POLAR    BEAR 

TAts  bear  is  the  most  formidable  of  all  aquatic  mammals.      It  is  almost  as  much  at  home 


of  his  face  smashed  and  lacerated. 
He  had  an  axe,  but  said, <  When 
the  bear  sat  up,  my  courage  failed 
me.' " 

THE  MALAYAN  SUN-BEAR. 

These  small,  smooth-coate 
bears  have  a  yellow  throat-patch 
like  a  mustard  plaster,  and  are 
altogether  the  most  amusing 
and  comical  of  all  the  tribe. 
They  are  almost  as  smooth  as  a 
pointer  dog,  and  are  devoted  to 
all  sweet  substances  which  can 
be  a  substitute  for  honey,  their 
main  delicacy  when  wild.  There 
are  always  a  number  of  these 
bears  at  the  Zoo  incessantly 

in  the -water  as  a  seat  begging    for    food.      When  one 

gets  a  piece  of  sugar,  he  cracks 

it  into  small  pieces,  sticks  them  on  the  back  of  his  paw,  and  licks  the  mess  until  the  paw  is 
covered  with  sticky  syrup,  which  he  eats  with  great  gusto.  This  bear  is  found  in  the  Malay 
Peninsula,  Borneo,  Sumatra,  and  Java.  It  is  only  4  feet  high,  or  sometimes  half  a  foot  taller.  It 
is  more  in  the  habit  of  walking  upright  than  any  other  species. 

THE   POLAR   BEAR. 

ICE-BEAR  is  the  better  name  for  this,  the  most  interesting  in  its  habits  of  all  the  bears.  It  is 
an  inhabitant  of  the  lands  of  polar  darkness  and  intense  cold,  and  one  of  the  very  few  land 
animals  which  never  try  to  avoid  the  terrible  ordeal  of  the  long  Arctic  night,  which  rolls  on  from 
month  to  month.  It  can  swim  and  dive  nearly  as  well  as  a  seal,  climbs  the  icebergs,  and  goes 
voyages  on  the  drifting  ice,  floating  hundreds  of  miles  on  the  polar  currents,  and  feeding  on  the 
seals  which  surround  it.  Of  the  limits  of  size  of  the  ice-bear  it  is  impossible  to  speak  with 
certainty.  From  the  skins  brought  to  this  country  the  size  of  some  of  them  must  be  enormous. 
One  which  lived  for  more  than  thirty  years  at  the  Zoo  was  of  immense  length  and  bulk.  When 
the  first  discoverers  went  to  the  Arctic  Seas,  dressed  in  thick  clothes  and  skins,  the  polar  bears 
took  them  for  seals.  On  Bear  Island,  below  Spitzbergen,  a  Dutch  sailor  sat  down  on  the  snow 
to  rest.  A  bear  walked  up  behind  him,  and  seized  and  crushed  his  head,  evidently  not  in  the 
least  aware  of  what  kind  of  animal  it  had  got  hold  of.  When  the  Jackson-Harms  worth  Expedi- 
tion was  wintering  in  Franz-Josef  Land,  the  bears  were  a  positive  nuisance.  They  were  not 
afraid  of  man,  and  used  to  come  round  the  huts  at  all  hours.  The  men  shot  so  many  of  them 
that  they  formed  a  valuable  article  of  food  for  the  dogs.  The  flesh  is  said  to  be  unwholesome 
for  men.  The  power  of  these  bears  in  the  water  is  wonderful ;  though  so  bulky,  they  are  as 
light  as  a  cork  when  swimming,  and  their  strong,  broad  feet  are  first-class  paddles.  Whenever  a 
dead  whale  is  found  near  the  shore,  the  polar  bears  assemble  to  feed  upon  it.  In  the  various 
searches  for  the  Franklin  Expedition  they  pulled  to  pieces  nearly  all  the  cabins  erected  to  hold 
provisions  for  the  sledge-parties.  In  one  case  it  was  found  that  the  bears  had  amused  themselves  by 
mounting  the  roof  of  a  half-buried  hut,  and  sliding  down  the  snowy,  frozen  slope.  Cubs  are  often 
brought  home  in  whaling-  and  sealing-ships,  after  the  mothers  have  been  shot.  There  is  a  ready 
sale  of  them  for  the  great  menageries.  Herr  Hagenbeck,  of  Hamburg,  by  purchasing  them 
quite  young,  has  induced  bears  to  live  on  good  terms  with  tigers,  boar-hounds,  and  leopards. 


THE    BEARS 


123 


The  manoeuvres  of  an  ice-bear  in  the  water  are  marvelous  to  watch.  Though  so  bulky  a 
beast,  it  swims,  dives,  rolls  over  and  over,  catches  seals  or  fish,  or  plays  both  on  and  under  the 
water  with  an  ease  and  evident  enjoyment  which  show  that  it  is  in  its  favourite  element.  One 
favourite  game  of  the  ice-bear  is  to  lie  on  its  back  in  the  water,  and  then  to  catch  hold  of  its 
hind  toes  with  its  fore  feet,  when  it  resembles  a  half-rolled  hedgehog  of  gigantic  size.  It  then 
rolls  over  and  over  in  the  water  like  a  revolving  cask.  Its  footsteps  are  absolutely  noiseless,  as 
the  claws  are  shorter  than  in  the  land-bear's,  and  more  muffled  in  fur.  This  noiseless  power  of 
approach  is  very  necessary  when  it  has  to  catch  such  wary  creatures  as  basking  seals.  A  very 
lar^e  proportion  of  the  food  formerly  eaten  by  ice-bears  in  summer  was  probably  putrid,  as  they 
were  always  supplied  with  a  quantity  of  the  refuse  carcases  of  whales  and  seals  left  by  the 
whaling-ships.  This  may  account  for  the  bad  results  to  the  sailors  who  ate  the  bears'  flesh. 
Now  the  whaling  industry  is  so  little  pursued  that  the  bears  have  to  catch  their  dinners  for  them- 
selves, and  eat  fresh  food. 


/>*.».  by  tni  tftw  Tcrl  Zotltglcal  Sttltt) 

HALF-GROWN    POLAR    BEARS 

When  young  polar  heart  art  brought  to  England  or  Nnv  York  on  board  sAipt    they  arrive  "with  coats  almost  as  yellow  as  a  sponge.      It  takes  a 

•week's  bathing  to  restore  the  pure  "white  colour 

The  Arctic  explorer  Nordenskiold  saw  much  of  the  ice-bears  on  his  voyages,  and  left  us  what 
is  perhaps  the  best  description  of  their  attempts  to  stalk  men,  mistaking  them  for  other  animals. 
"  When  the  polar  bear  observes  a  man,"  he  writes  in  his  "  Voyage  of  the  Vega,"  "  he  com- 
monly approaches  him  as  a  possible  prey,  with  supple  movements  and  a  hundred  zigzag  bends, 
in  order  to  conceal  the  direction  he  means  to  take,  and  to  prevent  the  man  feeling  frightened. 
During  his  approach  he  often  climbs  up  on  to  blocks  of  ice,  or  raises  himself  on  his  hind  legs,  in 
order  to  get  a  more  extensive  view.  If  he  thinks  he  has  to  do  with  a  seal,  he  creeps  or  trails 
himself  forward  on  the  ice,  and  is  then  said  to  conceal  with  his  fore  paws  the  only  part  of  his 
body  that  contrasts  with  the  snow — his  large  black  nose.  If  the  man  keeps  quite  still,  the  bear 
comes  in  this  way  so  near  that  it  can  be  shot  at  the  distance  of  two  gun-lengths,  or  killed  with  a 
lance,  which  the  hunter  considers  safer." 

When  a  vessel  lies  at  anchor,  a  polar  bear  sometimes  swims  out  to  it,  to  inspect  the  visiting 
ship ;  it  has  also  a  special  fancy  for  breaking  open  and  searching  stores  of  provisions,  boats  aban- 


124       THE    LIVING    ANIMALS   OF    THE    WORLD 


Phttt  bj  G.  W.  Wihtn  &  Co.,  Ltd.] 

THE   ICE-BEAR'S    COUCH 


{Aberdeen 


A  favourite  attitude  of  the  polar  bear  is  to  lie  stretched  on  its  stomach,  -with  the  hind  and  fore 
legs  extended  fiat.  The  head  often  lies  between  the  fore  paws.  Notice  the  hair  on  the  feet,  -which 
tteps  the  animal  from  slipping  when  on  the  ice. 


doned   and   covered  over, 

mf   '  and    cabins     of    wrecked 

^  j$  g  ships.      One   bear  which 

had  looted  a  provision 
depot  was  found  to  have 
swallowed  a  quantity  of 
sticking-plaster.  The  ice- 
bear  has  been  met  swim- 
ming at  a  distance  of  eighty 
miles  from  land,  and  with 
no  ice  in  sight.  This  shows 
how  thoroughly  aquatic 
its  habits  and  powers  are. 
Polar  bears  do  not  hug 
their  victims,  like  the 
brown  bear,  but  bite,  and 
use  their  immense  feet  and 
sharp  claws.  It  has  been 
said  that  when  one  catches 
a  seal  on  the  ice  it  will  play 
with  it  as  a  cat  does  with  a  mouse.  The  size  of  these  bears  varies  very  much.  Seven  or  eight 
feet  from  the  tip  of  the  nose  to  the  tail  is  the  usual  length ;  yet  they  have  been  known  to  exceed 
even  1 3  feet  in  length.  This  would  correspond  to  an  immense  difference  in  bulk  and  weight. 
An  ice-bear  was  once  found  feeding  on  the  body  of  a  white  whale,  15  feet  in  length,  and  weighing 
three  or  four  tons.  The  whale  could  not  have  got  on  to  the  ice  by  itself,  and  it  is  difficult  to 
imagine  that  any  other  creature  except  the  bear  could  have  dragged  it  there  from  the  sea,  where 
it  was  found  floating.  When  hunting  seals,  polar  bears  will  chase  them  in  the  water  as  an  otter 
does  a  fish,  but  with  what  result  is  not  known.  Besides  stalking  them  in  the  manner  described 
above,  they  will  mark  the  place  at  which  seals  are  basking  on  the  rim  of  an  ice-floe,  and  then  dive, 
and  come  up  just  at  the  spot  where  the  seal  would  naturally  drop  into  the  water.  Those  shot  for 
the  sake  of  their  skins  are  nearly  all  killed  when  swimming  in  the  sea.  The  hunters  mark  a  bear 
on  an  ice-floe,  and  approach  it.  The  bear  always  tries  to  escape  by  swimming,  and  is  pursued 
and  shot  through  the  head  from  the  boat.  When  the  females  have  a  cub  or  cubs  with  them,  they 
will  often  attack  persons  or  boats  which  molest  them ;  otherwise  they  do  not  willingly  interfere 
with  man,  except,  as  has  been  said  above,  when  they  mistake  men  for  seals  or  other  natural  prey. 
The  instances  recorded  of  the  affection  shown  by  these  animals  for  their  young  are  some- 
what pathetic.  When  the  Carcase  frigate,  which  was  engaged  on  a  voyage  of  Arctic  discovery, 
was  locked  in  the  ice,  a  she-bear  and  two  cubs  made  their  way  to  the  ship,  attracted  by  the  scent 
of  the  blubber  of  a  walrus  which  the  crew  had  killed  a  few  days  before.  They  ran  to  the  fire, 
and  pulled  off  some  of  the  walrus-flesh  which  remained  unconsumed.  The  crew  then  threw 
them  large  lumps  of  the  flesh  which  were  lying  on  the  ice,  which  the  old  bear  fetched  away 
singly,  and  laid  before  her  cubs  as  she  brought  it,  dividi  T*  it,  and  giving  each  a  share,  and 

o  o  o  o 

reserving  but  a  small  portion  for  herself.  As  she  war,  fetching  away  the  last  piece,  the  sailors 
shot  both  the  cubs  dead,  and  wounded  the  dam.  Although  she  could  only  just  crawl  to  the  place 
where  the  cubs  lay.  she  carried  the  lump  of  flesh  which  she  had  last  fetched  away,  and  laid  it 
before  them ;  and  when  she  saw  that  they  refused  to  eat,  laid  her  paws  on  them,  and  tried  to 
raise  them  up,  moaning  pitifully.  When  she  found  she  could  not  stir  them,  she  went  to  some 
distance,  and  looked  back,  and  then  returned,  pawing  them  all  over  and  moaning.  Finding  at 
last  that  they  were  lifeless,  she  raised  her  head  towards  the  ship  and  uttered  a  growl,  when  the 
sailors  killed  her  with  a  volley  of  musket-balls. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

THE  SMALLER  CARNIVORA. 


THE  RACCOON  FAMILY. 


A  LINK  between  the  Bears  and  the  Weasel 
Tribe  is  made  by  the  RACCOONS  and 
their  allies.  They  are  bear-like  in  hav- 
ing a  short,  thick  body,  and  in  their  flat-footed 
manner  of  walking  ;  also  in  their  habit  of  sitting 
up  on  end,  and  using  their  paws  as  hands,  to 
some  extent,  in  aiding  them  to  climb.  But  they 
are  also  much  like  the  Civets ;  and  the  pretty 
little  CACOMIXLE,  or  RING-TAILED  CAT  of  Mexico, 
was  formerly  classed  with  the  civets.  They  are 
all  very  active,  enterprising,  and  quick-witted 
creatures  of  no  great  size,  very  different  in 
temperament  from  the  bears. 


Photo  bj  Scholastic  Photo.  Co.]  [Parjon'j  Grein 

COMMON    RACCOON 


THE  RACCOON. 


This  is  the  typical  representative  of  the  Raccoon   Family.      It  is  found 
in  most  parts  of  the  United  States,  and  also  in  South  America. 


The  type  of  the  family  is  the  AMERICAN 
RACCOON  itself.  Its  scientific  name  of  "  Loter," 
the  "  Washer,"  was  given  to  it  from  an  odd  habit  these  creatures  have  of  wetting  and  washing  their 
food  in  any  water  which  is  near.  One  kept  at  the  Zoo  washed  her  kittens  so  much  when  they 

were  born  that  they  all  died.         ^^m^^^^^^^^^^^^m 

The   'coon    inhabits  '   1 

America  from  Canada  to  the 
south  as  far  down  as  Para- 
guay. In  size  it  is  equal  to 
a  common  fox,  but  is  short 
and  stout.  Restless,  inquisi- 
tive, and  prying,  it  is  a  most 
mischievous  beast  where  farm- 
yards and  poultry  are  within 
reach.  It  kills  the  fowls, 
eats  the  eggs,  samples  the 
fruit,  and  if  caught  shams 
dead  with  all  the  doggedness 
of  an  opossum.  It  is  very 
fond  of  fish  and  shell-fish. 
Oysters  are  a  special  dainty, 
as  are  mussels  and  clams. 


P kit,  b,  C.  RtU] 


,  N.B. 


RACCOON 

This  animal  has  the  habit  of  always  washing  its  food,  if  possible,  before  it  eats  it 
125 


126       THE    LIVING    ANIMALS    OF    THE   WORLD 


Photo  by  A.  S.  Rutland  if  Stnl 

GREAT    PANDA 

This  -very  rare  animal  is  found  on  the  high  plateau  of  Tibet 


A  gentleman  who  kept  one 
says :  "  It  opens  oysters  with 
wonderful  skill.  It  is  sufficient 
for  it  to  break  the  hinge  with 
its  teeth ;  its  paws  complete 
the  work  of  getting  out  the 
oyster.  It  must  have  a 
delicate  sense  of  touch.  In 
this  operation  it  rarely  avails 
itself  of  sight  or  smell.  It 
passes  the  oyster  under  its 
hind  paws ;  then,  without 
looking,  it  seeks  with  its 
hands  the  weakest  place.  It 
there  digs  in  its  claws,  forces 
asunder  the  valves,  and  tears 
out  the  flesh  in  fragments, 
leaving  nothing  behind."  Its 
favourite  haunt  is  in  the  cane- 
brakes  of  the  south.  There 

the  planters  follow  it  by  night  with  dogs,  and  shoot  it  in  the  trees  in  which  it  takes  refuge.     The 
skins,  with  handsome  alternations  of  yellow  and  brown,  make  fine  carriage  rugs. 

THE  COATIS. 

The  COATIS  are  small  arboreal  creatures,  with  the  habits  of  a  raccoon  and  squirrel  fairly 
portioned.  They  are  flesh-eaters,  but  active  and  playful.  Their  long  pig-like  snouts  give  them 
an  unpleasant  appearance.  They  inhabit  Mexico  and  Central  and  South  America  as  far  as 
Paraguay.  Several  specimens  are  generally  to  be  seen  at  the  Zoological  Gardens.  Their  habits 
are  much  the  same  as  those  of  the  small  tree  climbing  cats,  but  with  something  of  the  badger 
added.  Insects  and  worms,  as  well  as  birds  and  small  animals,  form  their  food. 

THE  PANDAS  AND  KINKAJOU. 

Among  the  small  carnivorous  mammals  the  BEAR-CAT,  or  PANDA,  is  a  very  interesting  crea- 
ture. Its  colour  is  striking — a  beautiful  red-chestnut  above,  the  lower  surface  jet-black,  the  tail 
long  and  ringed.  The  quality  of  the  fur  is  fine  also.  It  is  found  in  the  Eastern  Himalaya,  and 
is  as  large  as  a  badger.  The  GREAT  PANDA,  from  Eastern  Tibet,  is  a  much  larger,  short-tailed, 
black-and-white  animal,  once  thought  to  be  a  bear.  The  KINKAJOU  has  a  prehensile  tail,  and 
uses  its  paws  as  hands  so  readily  that  it  was  formerly  placed  among  the  lemurs.  It  is  a  native 
of  Southern  and  intertropical  America.  Nocturnal,  and  living  in  the  great  forests,  it  is  seldom 
seen  by  man.  Its  head  is  round  and  cat-like,  its  feet  are  the  same,  but  with  non-retractile  claws, 
and  it  has  a  long,  full  tail.  It  has  a  long  tongue,  with  which  it  can  lick  out  insects  from  the 
crevices  and  holes  of  trees.  Baron  von  Humboldt  says  that  it  attacks  the  nests  of  wild  bees.  It 
uses  its  tongue  to  draw  objects  of  food  towards  it,  even  if  they  are  not  living.  A  pleasant 
description  of  this  animal  appeared  in  Charles  Knight's  "  Museum  of  Animated  Nature,"  pub- 
lished many  years  ago :  «  In  its  aspect  there  is  something  of  gentleness  and  good-nature.  In 
captivity  it  is  extremely  playful,  familiar,  and  fond  of  being  noticed.  One  lived  in  the  gardens  of 
the  Zoological  Society  for  seven  years.  During  the  greater  part  of  the  morning  it  was  asleep, 
rolled  up  in  a  ball  in  its  cage.  In  the  afternoon  it  would  come  out,  traverse  its  cage,  take  food, 
and  play  with  those  to  whom  it  was  accustomed.  Clinging  to  the  top  wires  of  its  cage  with  its 
tail  and  hind  paws,  it  would  thus  swing  itself  backwards  and  forwards.  When  thus  hanging,  it 


Photo  ly  Dr.  R.   W.  Shufeldt,   H  ashington. 

RACCOON. 
This  animal  is  found  from  Alaska,  through  tho  United  States,  to  Ontral  America. 


THE    SMALLER    CARNIVORA 


127 


would  bring  its  fore  paws  to  the  bars,  as  well  as  the  hind  pair, 
and  in  this  manner  would  travel  up  and  down  its  cage  with 
the  utmost  address,  every  now  and  then  thrusting  out  its  long 
tongue  between  the  wires,  as  if  in  quest  of  food,  which,  when 
offered  to  it,  it  would  endeavour  to  draw  in  between  the  wires 
with  this  organ.  It  was  very  fond  of  being  gently  stroked 
and  scratched,  and  when  at  play  with  any  one  it  knew  it 
would  pretend  to  bite,  seizing  the  hand  or  ringers  with  its 
teeth,  as  a  dog  will  do  when  playing  with  its  master.  As  the 
evening  came  on,  it  was  full  of  animation,  and  exhibited  in 
every  movement  the  most  surprising  energy." 

THE  OTTERS. 

As  the  badgers  and  ratels  seem  specially  adapted  to 
an  underground  and  cave-making  existence,  so  the  OTTERS 
all  conform  in  structure  to  an  aquatic  life ;  yet,  except  the 
webbing  of  the  space  between  the  toes  and  the  shortening 
and  flattening  of  the  head,  there  is  very  little  obvious  change 
in  their  structure  to  meet  the  very  great  difference  in  the  con- 
ditions under  which  they  live. 

The  SHORT-TOED  OTTER  is  a  small  Indian  species.  It 
has  nails  on  its  hands  in  place  of  claws.  One  kept  at  the 
Zoo  was  a  most  amusing  and  friendly  little  pet,  which  let  itself 
be  nursed  like  a  kitten. 

The  NORTH  AMERICAN  OTTER  has  the  same  habits  as  the 
English  kind,  but  is  somewhat  larger,  and  has  a  far  finer  coat. 
It  is  trapped  in  thousands,  and  the  fur  sent  over  to  this  country  to  the  Hudson  Bay  Com- 
pany's and  other  great  fur-sales.  These  otters,  like  all  their  family,  are  very  fond  of  playing. 
One  of  their  regular  games  is  to  make  a  snow-slide  or  an  ice-slide  down  a  frozen  waterfall.  The 
alighting-place  from  this  chute  is,  if  possible,  in  the  water.  There  the  trapper  sets  his  traps,  and 

the  poor  otters  are  caught. 

The  COMMON  OTTER  is 
far  the  most  attractive  of  the 
British  carnivora.  It  is  still 
fairly  common  all  over  Britain 
where  fish  exist.  It  is  found 
on  the  Norfolk  broads  and 
rivers,  all  up  the  Thames,  in 
Scotland,  Devonshire,  Wales, 
Cumberland,  and  Northumber- 
land. It  travels  considerable 
distances  from  river  to  river, 
and  sometimes  gets  into  a 
preserved  trout-pool  or 
breeding-pond,  and  does 
much  mischief.  The  beau- 
tiful young  otters  here  fig- 
ured are  in  Mr.  Percy  Leigh 
Pemberton's  collection  of 


Photo  tf  Scholastic  Photo  Co.,  Parian' i  Grim 

KINKAJOU 

The  kinkajou  eats  birds  and  eggs  as  well  as 
honey  and  fruit.  One  kept  in  South  America 
killed  a  whole  brood  of  turkeys,  and  was  partial 
to  birds'  eggs. 


B,fe 


liision  of  Percy  Leigh  Pemberton,  Eiq. 

YOUNG    O  TTERS 


Otters,  when  taken  young,  can  be  trained  to  catch  fsh  for  their  o-wntrs. 
employ  them  for  this  purpose 


In  India  several  tribes 


British      mammals.      Their 


128       THE    LIVING    ANIMALS    OF    THE    WORLD 


TWO    TAME    OTTERS 

These  tiuo  little  otters  -were  photographed  by  the  Duchess  of  Bedford.  Alluding 
to  the  old  signs  of  the  zodiac  and  their  fondness  for  the  -watering-pot,  their  portrait 
•was  called  '•  jtfyuarius"  and  "  The  Twins." 

THE  SEA-OTTER. 


owner  made  a  large  brick  tank 
for  them,  where  they  were  allowed 
to  catch  live  fish.  Once  one  of  them 
seized  a  4-lb.  pike  by  the  tail.  The 
pike  wriggled  round  and  seized  the 
otter's  paw,  but  was  soon  placed  hors 
de  combat.  The  largest  otter  which 
the  writer  has  seen  was  bolted  by  a 
ferret  from  a  rabbit-warren  on  the 
edge  of  the  Norfolk  fen  at  Hockwold, 
and  shot  by  the  keeper,  who  was  rab- 
biting. 

English  dog  otters  sometimes 
weigh  as  much  as  26  Ibs.  They 
regularly  hunt  down  the  rivers  by 
night,  returning  before  morning  to 
their  holt,  where  they  sleep  by  day. 
No  fish  stands  a  chance  with  them. 
They  swim  after  the  fish  in  the  open 
river,  chase  it  under  the  bank,  and 
then  corner  it,  or  seize  it  with  a 
rush,  just  as  the  penguins  catch 
gudgeon  at  the  Zoo.  Captain  Salvin 
owned  a  famous  tame  otter  which 
used  to  go  for  walks  with  him,  and 
amuse  -itself  by  catching  fish  in  the 
roadside  ponds. 


Common  otters   killed  on  the  coast  are  often  confounded  with  the  SEA-OTTER.     This  is  a 
great  mistake.     The  sea-otter  is  as  much  a  marine  animal  as  the  seal  or  the  sea-lion.     It  swii 
out  in  the  open  ocean,  and  is  even  more  of  a  pelagic  creature  than  the  seal,  for  it  either  produce 
its  young  when  in  the  water,  or  at  any  rate  carries  and  suckles  them  on  the  open  sea.     The  sez 
otter  is  much  larger  than  the  common  otter.     Unfortunately  the  fish  and  other  marine  creature 
which  form  the  food  of  the  sea-otters  are  found  mainly  near  the  coast.     Following  them, 
otters  come  near  the  Aleutian  Islands, 
where   the   hunters    are    ever  on  the 
watch  for  them.     If  a  single  otter  is 
seen,  five  or  six  boats,  with  a  rifleman 
in  each,  at  once  put  out,  and  the  otter 
stands  little  chance  of  escape.    It  never 
was  a  common  animal,  and  the  prices 
given  for  the  fur,  up  to  $1000  for  a 
first-class  skin,  have  caused  its  destruc- 
tion.    The  skin,  when  stretched  and 
cured,  is  sometimes  5   feet  long,  and 
is  of  an  exquisite  natural  rich  brown, 


like  long  plush,  sprinkled  all  over  with 
whitish  hairs  like  hoarfrost. 


Photo  by  A.  S.  Rudland  &  Son 

SEA-OTTER 

The  sea-otter  has  the  most  -valuable  fur  of  any  animal 


THE    SMALLER    CARNIVORA 


129 


Phtti  by  A.  S.  Rudland  V  Sons 

A    SKUNK 

An  American  animal,  noted  chiefly  for  the  scent-gland  it  possesses,  from  "which  it 
emits  a  most  obnoxious-smelling  fluid 


THE  SKUNKS. 

OF  all  the  strange  equipments 
given  by  nature  to  animals  for  their 
protection  that  possessed  by  the  various 
species  of  SKUNK  is  the  most  effec- 
tive. These  animals  are  able  to  emit 
a  fluid  so  vile  in  odour  that  it  seems 
equally  hateful  to  all  animals.  Dogs, 
pumas,  men,  alike  shun  them,  and  the 
animals  seem  to  know  this  and  to  pre- 
sume on  their  immunity.  An  ordinary 
skunk  is  about  the  size  of  a  cat, 
black,  with  bright  white  stripes  down 
the  sides  and  back.  The  fur  is  thick 
and  handsome,  and,  if  the  animal  be 
killed  before  it  discharges  its  fluid, 
is  not  too  strongly  odorous  to  make 
trimmings  for  jackets.  Mr.  Hudson, 

in  his  "  Naturalist  in  La  Plata,"  says :  "  In  talking  to  strangers  from  abroad,  I  have 
never  thought  it  necessary  to  speak  of  the  dangers  of  sunstroke,  jaguars,  or  the  assassin's 
knife.  But  I  have  never  omitted  to  warn  them  of  the  skunk,  minutely  describing  its  habits 
and  personal  appearance.  I  knew  an  Englishman  who,  on  taking  a  first  gallop  across  the 
Pampas,  saw  one,  and  quickly  dismounting,  hurled  himself  bodily  on  to  it  to  effect  its  capture. 
Poor  man  !  He  did  not  know  that  the  animal  is  never  unwilling  to  be  caught.  Men  have  been 
blinded  by  them  forever  by  a  discharge  of  the  fiery  liquid  in  their  faces.  The  smell  pervades 
the  whole  system  of  any  one  subjected  to  it,  like  a  pestilent  ether,  nauseating  the  victim  till 
seasickness  seems  pleasant  in  comparison."  Dogs  can  be  taught  to  kill  skunks ;  but  they  show 
the  greatest  disgust  and  horror  when  the  fluid  of  the  animal  falls  upon  them,  and  sometimes  roll 

in  mud  or  dust  in  the 
endeavour  to  get  rid 
of  it. 

THE  BADGERS. 

THE  BADGERS  in- 
clude several  genera. 
The  SAND-BADGERS  of 
the  East  have  a  naked 
snout,  small  ears,  and 
rough  fur,  with  softer 
fur  underneath.  The 
INDIAN  BADGER  is 
larger  than  that  of 
Europe,  while  that  of 
Java,  Sumatra,  and 
Borneo  is  smaller,  and 
has  a  very  short  tail. 

The    FERRET- 

Phtto  bj  C.  Riid]  flfiihaw.  ff.B.  /•-«..  +V.*» 

A    BADGER    IN    THE   WATER  BADGERS       from 

They  are  nocturnal  animals  East     have     elongated 


130       THE    LIVING    ANIMALS    OF    THE    WORLD 


Photo  by  Scholastic  Photo.  Co.] 


[Parjen'j  Green 


EUROPEAN    BADGER 

Badgers    can    be   readily    kept   in  confinement,    and  are   not  difficult    to    tame 
thoroughly 


bodies  and  short  tails.  They  are  tree- 
climbers,  and  as  omnivorous  as  the 
badger  itself.  The  CAPE  ZORILLA,  with 
another  species  found  in  Egypt,  is 
more  nearly  allied  to  the  polecats,  but  is 
striped  like  a  skunk. 

The  EUROPEAN  BADGER  is  still  fairly 
numerous.  There  is  not  a  county  in 
England  where  it  is  not  found.  A 
large  colony  has  been  established  in 
Epping  Forest,  some  fifty  yards  square 
of  hillside  being  honeycombed  with 
badger-earths.  The  European  badger 
is  found  all  over  temperate  Northern 
Europe  and  Asia  ;  but  being  shy,  wary, 
and  mainly  nocturnal,  is  seldom  seen. 
At  night  it  wanders  about,  and  in 
August  gets  into  the  corn-fields, 
whence  it  is  chased  and  caught  by 
dogs.  A  Somersetshire  farmer  had  a 
pointer  and  sheep-dog  which  were 
adepts  at  this  night  catching  of  badgers.  They  would  accompany  their  master  along  the  roads, 
and  the  pointer  instantly  winded  any  badger  which  had  crossed.  Both  dogs  then  bounded  off,  and 
soon  their  loud  barking  showed  that  they  had  found  and  "  held  up  "  the  badger.  The  dogs'  owner 
then  came  up,  picked  the  badger  up  by  its  tail,  and  dropped  it  in  a  sack.  The  badger's  "  earth  " 
is  wonderfully  deep  and  winding ;  in  it  the  badger  sleeps  during  the  winter,  and  gives  birth  to  its 
young,  three  or  four  of  which  are  produced  at  a  time.  The  end  of  March  is  the  period  of  birth, 
but  the  cubs  do  not  come  out  until  June.  In  October  they  are  full-grown.  The  badger  carries 
in  a  great  quantity  of  fern  and  grass  as  a  bed  for  its  cubs.  Mr.  Trevor-Battye  writes :  "  I  had  a 
pair  which  were  probably  about  six  weeks  old.  They  were  called  Gripper  and  Nancy.  They 
would  rest  on  my  lap  when  feeding,  and  sit  up  and  beg  like  dogs.  Their  hearing  and  power  of 
scent  were  remarkable.  The  badgers  were  in  a  closed  yard  ;  but  if  any  of  the  dogs  came  near, 
even  following  a  path  which  ran  at  a  distance  of  six  or  seven  yards,  they  would  instantly  jump 
off  my  lap  and  disappear  into  a  corner.  The  animals  could  walk  and  trot  backwards  with  the 
greatest  ease."  I  have  never  seen  this  noticed  elsewhere,  yet  it  is  worth  mentioning,  because  it 
is  characteristic  of  the  Weasel  Family,  not  being  shared,  to  my  knowledge,  by  any  other  mammal 
— not,  for  instance,  by  the  Bears. 

Mr.  A.  E.  Pease  says  of  the  badger  :  "  It  is  easily  domesticated,  and  if  brought  up  by  hand 
is  found  an  interesting  and  charming  companion.  I  had  at  one  time  two  that  I  could  do  any- 
thing  with,  and  which  followed  me  so  closely  that  they  would  bump  against  my  boots  each  step  I 
took,  and  come  and  snuggle  in  under  my  coat  when  I  sat  down." 

THE  RATELS. 

As  the  mink  is  adapted  for  an  aquatic  diet,  so  the  RATELS,  a  link  between  the  Weasels  and 
the  Badgers,  seem  to  have  been  specialised  to  live  upon  insects  and  honey  as  well  as  flesh. 
They  are  quaint  creatures,  with  rounded  iron-gray  backs,  and  black  bellies,  noses,  and  feet.  The 
African  kind  is  found  in  Cape  Colony  and  East  Africa,  and  is  believed  to  live  largely  on  honey 
and  bee-brood.  The  habits  of  the  ratel  are  almost  identical  with  those  of  the  badger,  except  that 
it  is  less  shy  and  very  restless.  A  nearly  similar  species  of  ratel  is  found  in  Southern  Asia  from 
the  Caspian  to  India. 


THE    SMALLER    CARNIVORA 


The  ratels  are  strictly  nocturnal,  and  make  their  lair  by  day  in  hollow  trees,  though  they 
are  said  not  to  climb.  The  skin  is  protected  by  thick,  close  hair,  so  that  bees  cannot  sting 
through  the  fur.  The  skin  is  also  very  loose.  If  a  dog  bites  it,  the  ratel  can  generally  twist 
round  and  bite  back.  The  African  ratel  is  omnivorous.  It  eats  snakes  and  birds.  The  body  of 
a  cobra  has  been  found  in  the  stomach  of  one. 

THE  WEASEL  TRIBE. 

No  animals  are  more  bloodthirsty  and  carnivorous  than  most  of  the  Weasel  Tribe.  They 
are  also  well  equipped  both  in  actual  weapons  and  in  activity  of  body,  and  have  powers  quite  out 
of  proportion  to  their  size.  They  are  also  gifted  with  magnificent  coats,  and  constitute  the  most 
valuable  source  of  choice  furs.  Sable,  Marten,  Mink,  Wolverine,  Ermine,  Otters,  and  several 
others  are  among  the  most  highly  prized.  Their  claws  are  sharp,  but  not  retractile.  It  is 
indeed  fortunate  that  these  creatures  are  so  small  in  size,  otherwise  they  would  be  among  the 
greatest  enemies  of  animal  life.  As  things  are,  they  are  useful  in  keeping  down  the  numbers  of 
creatures  which,  like  field-mice,  moles,  rabbits,  and  rats,  might,  and  occasionally  do,  become  a  pest. 

THE   MARTENS. 

There  are  two  species  of  marten  in  Europe — the  BEECH-  and  the  PINE-MARTEN.  The  latter 
has  a  yellow  throat,  the  former  a  white  one.  The  fur  is  almost  as  fine  as  sable.  All  so-called 
Canadian  sables  are  really  martens.  These  animals  are  found  throughout  Northern  Europe  and 
Northern  Asia,  in  Japan,  and  all  over  Northern  America.  In  Scotland  the  pine-marten  survives 
in  the  pine  forests ;  also  in  Ireland,  where  it  is  occasionally  killed  on  the  Wicklow  Mountains, 
near  Dublin,  and  on  the  Mourne  Mountains.  It  is  believed  to  remain  in  Cumberland,  Devon- 
shire, and  possibly  in  parts  of  Wales.  It  is  a  tree-loving  animal,  and  feeds  mainly  on  squirrels, 
which  it  pursues  through  the  branches.  It  is  also  fond  of  fruit.  Mr.  Charles  St.  John  discovered 
this  in  a  curious  way.  He  noticed  that  his  raspberries  were  being  stolen,  so  set  a  trap  among 
the  canes.  Next  day  all  he  could  see  was  a  heap  of  newly  gathered  raspberry  leaves  where  the 
trap  was.  Stooping  down  to  move  them,  a  marten  sprang  up  and  tried  to  defend  itself.  The  poor 
beast  had  come  to  gather  more  raspberries,  and  had  been  caught.  Unable  to  escape,  it  gathered 
the  leaves  near  and  concealed  itself. 

THE  SABLE. 

This  is  so  little  different 
from  the  marten  that  some 
have  thought  it  only  a 
northern  variety.  That  is  not 
the  case,  as  both  are  found 
in  the  same  area,  and  no  one 
who  knows  anything  of  form 
and  colour  could  mistake  the 
true  sable's  fur.  This  fur  is 
so  fine  and  even  that  each 
single  hair  tapers  gradually 
to  a  point :  that  is  why  sable 
brushes  for  painting  are  so 
valuable  ;  they  always  form  a 
point  when  wet.  The  price 
of  these  brushes,  which  are  of 
genuine  sable  fur,  though 
made  up  from  fragments  of 
the  worst  coloured  or  dam- 
aged skins,  varies  yearly  with 
the  price  of  sable  in  the  market. 


Phtti  by  A.  S.  Rutland  V  Sent 

RATEL 

Ratels  are  curioutly  restless  little  animals,  -with  a  peculiar  trot-like  walk 


132        THE    LIVING    ANIMALS    OF    THE    WORLD 

THE  MINK. 

Ladies  are  very  familiar  with  the  fur  of  the  MINK,  which  is  one  of  the  best  of  the  less  expen- 
sive varieties ;  it  is  not  glossy  as  marten  or  sable,  and  of  a  lighter  and  more  uniform  brown. 
The  mink  is  a  water-haunting  polecat,  found  in  Siberia,  North  America,  and  Japan.  Its  mair 
home  is  in  North  America,  where  the  immense  system  of  lakes  and  rivers  gives  scope  for  it 
aquatic  habits.  The  under-fur  is  particularly  warm  and  thick,  to  keep  out  the  cold  of  the  watt 
in  which  the  animal  spends  more  time  than  on  land.  It  is  not  stated  to  catch  fish,  as  does 
otter,  in  the  water ;  but  it  lives  on  frogs,  crayfish,  mussels,  and  dead  or  stranded  fish.  Mini 
have  been  kept  in  confinement  and  regularly  bred  in  "  minkeries,"  as  is  the  blue  fox,  and  it 
Manchuria  the  chow  dog,  for  the  sake  of  its  fur. 


THE  POLECAT. 

This  is  now  probably  the  rarest  of  the  British  weasels.  It  is  almost  identically  the  same 
the  polecat-ferret,  a  cross-breed  between  it  and  the  domesticated  variety.  It  survives  in  a  few  of 
the  great  woodlands  of  the  Midlands  and  of  Oxfordshire,  in  Scotland,  and  Wales.  It  is  found 
Cumberland,  near  Bowness,  and  on  Exmoor  and  Dartmoor  where  rabbits  abound.  It  is  an  expert 
swimmer.  Its  habits  are  the  same  as  those  of  the  stoat,  but  it  is  slower  in  its  movements.  It 
catches  fish,  and  can  pick  up  food  from  the  bottom  of  the  water.  Wild  ones  can  be  trained  to 
work  like  ferrets.  "  They  do  not  delay  in  the  hole,  but  follow  the  rat  out  and  catch  it  in  a  couple 
of  bounds  "  (Trevor-Battye).  The  FERRET  is  a  domesticated  br^ed  of  polecat.  It  is  identical  in 
shape  and  habits,  but  unable  to  stand  the  cold  of  our  climate  in  the  open. 


trmiuhn  of  ttrty  Leigh  Pemkerton,  Esq. 

PINE-MARTEN 

Pine-martens  have  most  beautiful  fur,  and  for  that  reason  are  much  hunted  in  America 


THE    SMALLER    CARNIVORA 


By  ftrminitn  of  Perty  Ltigh  Pimbtrttn,  Etq. 

POLECAT 


THE  WEASEL. 
The  smallest,  fiercest,  and 
commonest  of  its  race,  the 
little  WEASEL  is  by  no  means 
the  least  formidable  to  other 
animals  of  the  carnivora  of 
our  country.  It  is  cinnamon- 
coloured,  with  a  white  throat 
and  belly,  and  climbs  as 
neatly  as  a  cat,  running  up 
vertical  boughs  with  almost 
greater  facility.  A  weasel  in 
a  high  hedge  will  run  the 
whole  length  of  the  fence, 
from  twig  to  twig,  without 
descending;  it  threads  the 
galleries  of  the  field-mice, 
sucks  the  eggs  of  small  birds 
in  their  nests,  and  attacks 
rats,  mice,  rabbits,  and  even 

such  large  birds  as  grouse  without  fear  or  hesitation.  During  a  great  plague  of  field-voles  in 
the  Lowlands  of  Scotland  in  the  years  1890  and  1891  the  weasels  increased  enormously.  A 
shepherd  took  the  trouble  to  follow  a  weasel  down  a  hollow  drain  in  the  vole-infested  hillside ;  he 
found  the  bodies  of  no  less  than  thirteen  field-mice,  which  the  weasel  had  amused  itself  by  kill- 
ing. In  winter  weasels  hunt  the  corn-stacks  for  mice,  and  often  make  a  home  among  the  sheaves. 
One  was  seen  chasing  a  vole  by  Mr.  Trevor-Battye,  who  picked  up  the  vole,  which  the  weasel 
was  just  about  to  jump  up  for,  when  he  threw  it  into  the  hedge.  There  the  weasel  pounced  on 
it  and  carried  it  off! 

The  main  food  of  the  weasel  is  the  field-mouse  and  small  voles.     Weasels  are  very  devoted 
to  their  young ;  they  will  pick  them  up  and  carry  them  off  as  a  cat  does  a  kitten,  if  the  nest  is 
in  danger.     Their  hunting  shows  great  marks  of  cunning.     One  was  seen  in  a  field  in  which  a 
number    of   corn-buntings  were   fly- 
ing    about,     alighting    on     thistles. 
The  weasel  went  and  hid  under  one 
of  the  tallest  thistles,  on  which  a  bunt- 
ing soon  alighted ;  an  instant  after  it 
sprang  up  and  caught  and  killed  the 
bird. 

THE  STOAT,  OR  ERMINE. 

This  is  the  commonest  and  most 
widely  distributed  of  all  the  Weasel 
Tribe.  In  winter  the  fur  turns  to 
pure  white  in  the  northern  countries, 
and  occasionally  in  Southern  England. 
It  is  then  known  as  the  ERMINE,  and 
yields  the  ermine  fur.  In  every 

country  where   it   is   found   it  is  the          p*'"  *'  A-  s-  *udland  *  s>nt 
deadly  foe  of  all  small  animals,  from  HIMALAYAN  WEASEL 

the     hare     tO    the     smallest    field-mice.  They  are  fierce,  and  absolutely  fearless  -when  in  pursuit  of  game 


THE    LIVING    ANIMALS    OF    THE    WORLD 


COMMON    STOAT 

In  summer  coat  In  winter  coat 

These  photographs  shoio  the  stoat  (or  ermine,  as  it  is  often  called)  in  its  summer  and  winter  coats.       This  animal  gives  us  the  "well-known  ermine  fur 

It  has  the  same  passion  for  killing  for  killing's  sake  shared  by  the  ferret.  If  a  stoat  finds  a  rabbit's 
nest,  for  instance,  it  always  murders  all  the  young  ones.  These  creatures  sometimes  contrive  to 
hunt  in  packs,  or  to  migrate  in  society.  They  are  very  fond  of  their  young,  which  they  lay  up  in 
old  crows'  nests,  holes  in  banks,  or  straw-stacks.  They  have  often  been  seen  to  carry  them  out 
of  danger  in  their  mouths.  The  length  of  the  head  and  body  is  10^  inches,  and  of  the  tail 
6l/z  inches.  The  young  are  usually  from  five  to  eight  in  number,  and  are  born  in  April  or  May. 
They  soon  move  into  the  long  standing-grass,  and  remain  there  till  it  is  cut.  After  that  they 
move  to  the  woods  and  covers,  and  great  numbers  are  trapped.  If  not,  they  attack  the  young 
pheasants,  and  do  great  damage.  They  can  climb  well,  and  are  known,  as  is  the  polecat,  to 
ascend  trees  and  kill  birds  on  their  nests.  They  also  suck  eggs.  Forty-two  pheasants'  eggs 
were  taken  by  Mr.  de  Winton  from  one  stoat's  hole. 

THE  GLUTTON,  OR  WOLVERINE. 

This  largest  and  most  destructive  of  all  the  Weasel  Tribe  is  found  all  round  the  northern 
edge  of  the  Arctic  Circle,  from  Norway  to  Hudson  Bay.  It  is  a  large  heavy  animal,  with  a  short 
head,  sharp  claws,  long  thick  fur,  and  a  clumsy  gait.  Its  tusks  are  very  long  and  sharp ;  and  its 
appetite,  if  not  so  insatiable  as  the  old  travelers  were  told,  is  sharp  enough  to  keep  it  always 

hunting.  It  follows  the  fur- 
trappers  in  the  woods,  and, 
being  very  cunning,  breaks  in  at 
the  back  of  their  fall-traps,  and 
robs  the  baits  or  the  prey  caught. 
When  Lord  Milton  and  Dr. 
Cheadle  made  the  Northwest 
Passage  by  land,  they  lost  nearly 
all  their  furs  in  this  way.  Once, 
having  trapped  a  valuable  silver 
fox,  the  only  one  caught  by 
them,  they  found  nothing  but 
shreds  of  fur  left  by  the  glutton. 
As  the  marten-hunters'  line  of 
traps  is  perhaps  fifty  or  sixty 
miles  long,  the  loss  and  damage 
caused  by  the  glutton  is  most 
GLUTTON  mortifying.  This  animal  can 

A  cunning,  destructive  animal,  which  follows,  the  trappers  and  robs  them  of  the  animals  taken      Only  be  Caught  in  StCCJ 

that  with  great  difficulty. 


Photo  bj  A.  6'.  Kudland  &  Soni 


in  the  traps 


firminun  of  tht  ttiio  fart  Zoological  Suittf 

CALIFORNIAN    SEA-LIONS,    OR    EARED    SEALS 

Stal-Aerdiform  "  rix>/ierie*  "  when  on  land  at  the  breeding-season^  during  which  date  they  undergo  a  complex  fast 

'35 


CHAPTER  VIII. 


Photo  by  G.  W.  Wilion  &  Co.,  ltd.]  \_Abtraetn 

STELLER'S    SEA-LION 

The  eared  seal,  or  sea-lion^  has  the  hind  flippers  divided,  and  is  thus  able  to  move  "with  com- 
parative ease  on  land 


MARINE  CARNIVORA:   THE  SEALS,  SEA-LION,  AND  WALRUS. 

THERE  are  three 
families  of  the  Sea 
Carnivora, — the 
Fur-seals,   or   Eared   Seals ; 
the   Walrus;  and   the  True 
or  Earless  Seals. 

The  first  group,  which 
are  called  EARED  SEALS,  and 
occasionally  SEA-LIONS  and 
SEA-BEARS,  have  a  small  outer 
ear,  and  when  on  land  the 
hind  flippers  are  folded  for- 
wards beneath  the  body. 
There  is  a  distinct  neck,  and 
on  the  flippers  are  rudiment- 
ary claws.  Some  of  the  eared 
seals  have  the  close  and  fine 
under-fur  which  makes  their 
capture  so  remunerative. 
Under  the  skin  there  is  often 
a  thick  layer  of  blubber, 
which  is  also  turned  to  commercial  uses  by  the  sealers. 

The  WALRUS  stands  by  itself.  It  is  a  purely  Arctic  species,  whereas  fur-seals  are  found 
from  Bering  Sea  to  the  Antarctic  ;  and  forms  in  some  degree  a  connecting  link  between  the 
eared  seals  and  the  true  seals.  Like  the  former,  it  turns  the  front  flippers  forwards  and  inwards 
when  on  land ;  but  it  resembles  the  true  seals  in  having  no  external  ears.  The  upper  canine 
teeth  are  developed  into  enormous  tusks  of  hard  ivory. 

The  COMMON  SEALS  are  the  most  thoroughly  aquatic.  The  hind  flippers  seem  almost  to 
have  coalesced  with  the  tail,  and  are  always  directed  backwards  in  line  with  it.  They  have  no 
under-fur.  On  land  they  can  only  use  the  front  flippers  to  aid  their  progress. 

Most  seals  are  marine,  though  some  are  found  in  the  land-locked  sea  of  Lake  Baikal,  in 
Central  Asia,  and  the  true  seals  often  come  up  rivers. 

THE  EARED  SEALS,  OR  SEA-LIONS. 

These  and  the  walrus  have  their  hind  limbs  so  far  free  that  they  can  crawl  on  land  and 
their  flippers  for  other  purposes  than  swimming ;  they  can  comb  their  hair  with  them,  and  walk 
in  an  awkward  way.  They  are  divided  into  the  fur-seals  and  hair-seals  in  the  language  of  trade. 
The  fur-seals  are  those  from  which  ladies'  sealskin  jackets  are  made  ;  the  hair-seals  are  sought 
for  their  hides  and  oil.  A  demand  has  sprung  up  for  the  latter  to  make  coats  for  automobilists 
to  wear  when  riding  at  high  speed  in  cold  weather.  The  "  porpoise-hide"  boots  are  really  made 
from  the  skin  of  the  hair-seal. 

Both  hair-seals  and  fur-seals  have  in  common  the  remarkable  habit  of  assembling  in  large 

136 


MARINE    CARNIVORA 


137 


herds  during  the  breeding-season,  and  of  spending  a  long  period  on  land  after  the  young  are 
born.  The  male  seals  reach  the  islands,  or  "  rookeries,"  first,  followed  by  the  females.  The 
latter  give  birth  to  their  young  almost  as  soon  as  they  reach  the  rocks,  and  are  then  seized  and 
gathered  into  harems  by  the  strongest  and  oldest  males.  The  sea-lions  of  Patagonia,  equally 
with  the  fur-seals  of  Bering  Sea  and  the  Pribyloff  Islands,  never  feed  during  the  whole  time 
which  they  spend  on  the  rocks,  often  for  a  period  of  two  months. 

THE  FUR-SEALS. 

The  NORTHERN  FUR-SEAL  is  the  only  member  of  this  group  surviving  in  any  number. 
These  animals  still  annually  resort  to  the  Aleutian  Islands,  in  the  territory  of  Alaska,  in  great 
herds  to  produce  their  young,  and  to  certain  other  islets  off  the  coast  of  Japan.  This  northern 
fur-seal,  from  the  fur  of  which  the  sealskin  jackets  are  obtained,  is,  when  full  grown,  between 
6  and  7  feet  long.  The  females  are  only  4  feet  or  4^  feet  in  length.  The  shoulder  of  the  male 
is  gray,  the  rest  of  the  body  varying  between  reddish  gray  and  deep  black.  The  female  is  lighter 
in  colour.  Males  of  this  species  are  not  full  grown  till  six  years  of  age,  but  breed  when  four 
years  old.  The  females  produce  young  at  three  years  of  age.  The  male  seals  take  possession 
of  the  females  almost  immediately  after  reaching  the  breeding  grounds,  each  male  collecting  as 
many  females  as  it  can  round  it  The  pups  keep  with  their  mothers.  This  assemblage  is 
surrounded  by  great  numbers  of  young  male  or  bachelor  seals,  which  the  old  males  prevent  from 
annexing  any  of  the  females.  The  greatest  of  all  these  gathering-places  are  on  the  Pribyloff 
Islands  and  certain  other  islets  in  Bering  Sea.  By  the  end  of  May  both  male  and  female  seals 
swim  in  flocks  through  Bering  Straits,  making  for  the  islands.  The  islands  themselves  are 
leased  to  American  merchants.  But  as  those  seals  killed  on  the  way  are  all  just  about  to  bring 
forth  young,  the  waste  and  cruelty  of  this  "  pelagic  sealing  "  will  be  easily  understood.  On  the 
islands,  or  "  rookeries,"  the  males,  mothers,  and  pups  remain  till  August,  when  the  pups  take  to 
the  water.  The  male  seals  have  remained  for  at  least  two  months,  incessantly  fighting  and 
watching,  without  taking  any  food.  By  that  time  they  are  quite  exhausted,  the  fat  which  they 
laid  up  previously  being  all  absorbed.  The  fur  has  not  naturally  either  the  colour  or  texture 


fhttt  by  G.  W.  Wllitn  V  Cc.,  Ltd.}  \Aktrdttn 

SEA-LION 

Tkit  photograph  shows  the  dry  mane  of  the  tea-lion,  a  rather  uncommon  sight,  as  it  rarely  remains  long  enough  out  of  the  "water  for  its  fur 

to  become  absolutely  dry 


138        THE    LIVING    ANIMALS    OF    THE    WORLD 


which  art  gives  it.  The  outer  fur  is  long  and  coarse, 
and  only  the  inner  fur  of  the  exquisite  texture  of  the 
"  made  "  skin.  The  former  is  removed,  and  the  latter 
dyed  to  the  rich  brown  colour  which  we  see.  The  fur- 
seals  are  steadily  diminishing,  and  each  year's  catch  is 
smaller  than  that  of  the  year  before. 

The  CAPE  FUR-SEAL,  SOUTHERN  FUR-SEAL,  and 
NEW  ZEALAND  FUR-SEAL  are  practically  extinct  for 
commercial  purposes. 

THE  HAIR-SEALS. 

Among  these  are  the  large  so-called  "  sea-lions." 
of  Patagonia  and  the  North  Pacific.  We  are  familiar 
with  their  appearance,  because  for  many  years  speci- 
mens have  been  kept  at  the  Zoological  Gardens. 
Their  habits  are  much  the  same  as  those  of  the 
fur-seals.  The  principal  species  are,  in  the  north, 
STELLER'S  SEA-LION,  and  the  PATAGONIAN  SEA-LION 
in  the  south.  Those  kept  at  the  Zoological  Gardens 
are  usually  of  the  latter  species. 

STELLER'S  SEA-LION  is  already  on  the  road  to 
extinction.  When  the  annual  catch  of  fur-seals 
reached  100,000  a  year,  the  total  number  of  these 
northern  sea-lions  was  estimated  at  between  30,000 
and  40,000.  They  repair  every  year  to  the  Pribyloff 
Islands  to  breed,  as  the  fur-seals  do,  but  are  shier  and 
more  entirely  aquatic.  The  fur  of  the  old  males  is 
tawny,  and  makes  a  kind  of  mane  over  the  shoulders, 
whence  its  name.  Off  San  Francisco  there  is  a  small 
rocky  island,  one  of  the  ancient  "  rookeries  "  of  these  sea-lions,  where  they  are  carefully  preserved 
by  the  United  States  Government  as  one  of  the  sights  of  the  bay.  Another  favourite  haunt  in 
old  days  was  on  the  Farralone  Islands,  thirty  miles  from  the  bay. 

Southwards,  towards  the  Antarctic,  on  the  desolate  and  uninhabited  coasts  and  islets  of  the 
Far  Southern  Ocean,  the  most  characteristic  of  the  fauna  still  remaining  are  the  sea-lions.  For- 
merly they  swarmed  in  great  packs,  crowding  at  the  breeding-season  the  seaweed-covered  rocks 
with  their  huge  and  unwieldy  forms,  and  at  other  times  cruising  in  uncouth  and  noisy  companies 
in  search  of  the  fishes  and  squids,  which  they  pursued  like  packs  of  ocean-wolves.  In  spring  the 
sea-lions  used  to  struggle  on  to  the  flat  shore,  where  the  equally  aquatic  tribes  of  penguins,  which 
had  lost  the  use  of  their  wings,  covered  acre  after  acre  of  rock  with  their  eggs  and  young. 
These  the  sea-lions  devoured.  When  the  men  of  the  first  exploring-ships  visited  the  penguins' 
nurseries,  all  the  ungainly  birds  began  to  hop  inland,  evidently  taking  the  men  for  seals,  and 
thinking  it  best  to  draw  them  as  far  from  their  native  element  as  possible.  But  the  eared  seals 
can  make  good  progress  of  a  kind  on  land.  When  Captain  Musgrave  and  his  crew  were  cast 
away  for  twenty  months  on  the  Auckland  Islands,  they  found  their  tracks  on  the  top  of  a  hill 
four  miles  from  the  water.  Captain  Musgrave  also  saw  the  mother  seals  teaching  their  puppies 
to  swim  ;  they  were  by  no  means  inclined  to  do  this,  and  were  afraid  of  the  water — fairly  clear 
presumptive  evidence  that  seals  have  only  recently,  so  far  as  natural  time  is  counted,  taken  to  the 
aquatic  life,  and  modified  their  form  so  profoundly  as  they  have. 

The  PATAGONIAN  SEA-LION  is  perhaps  the  most  numerous  species,  though  its  numbers  have 


\iislon  of  Professor  Bumpus]  [New  Tort 

SEA-LION 

All  sea-lions  are  polygamous.  The  males  guard  their 
harems  very  jealously;  and  fight  determinedly  ivith  any 
intruder 


MARINE    CARNIVORA  139 

been  greatly  reduced  by  whalers  in  search  of  skins  and  oil.  The  first  sea-lion  ever  brought 
here  was  one  of  these.  The  Zoological  Society  did  not  import  it;  they  found  it  in  the  pos- 
session of  a  Frenchman  called  Lecomte,  who  had  taken  it  on  the  Patagonian  coast,  trained  it,  and 
brought  it  home,  where  he  showed  it  in  a  caravan.  Its  training  was  long  and  difficult ;  it  bit  like 
a  bull-dog,  and  Lecomte's  limbs  were  scarred  all  over  with  its  bites.  In  spite  of  this  it  was  the 
cleverest  performing  animal  ever  seen  up  to  that  time  in  England.  This  sea-lion  died  from  swal- 
lowing a  fish-hook  concealed  in  some  fish  with  which  it  was  fed.  Lecomte  was  then  sent  out  by 
the  Zoological  Society  to  obtain  some  more.  With  the  greatest  difficulty  several  were  secured, 
but  all  died  on  the  voyage  to  New  York.  Lecomte  returned  and  obtained  others,  one  of  which 
he  succeeded  in  bringing  here.  The  cleverness  of  these  animals — or  rather  their  power  of 
understanding  what  they  are  required  to  do,  and  their  willingness  to  do  it — probably  exceeds  that 
of  any  other  animal,  except  the  elephant  and  the  dog.  Why  this  is  so  is  not  easy  to  conjecture, 
except  that  the  brain  is  more  developed.  They  have  been  taught  to  fetch  and  carry  on  dry  land 
like  a  retriever,  in  addition  to  the  well-known  tricks  exhibited  by  those  at  the  Zoo.  One  be- 
longing to  Barnum's  Show  caught  strawberry-punnets  on  its  nose  when  they  were  thrown  to  it, 
and  waved  a  torch,  which  it  held  in  its  teeth  and  caught  after  tossing  it  into  the  air. 

The  sea-lions  are  much  more  powerful  animals  than  the  fur-seals.  The  male  of  Steller's  sea- 
lion  attains  a  length  of  10  feet  and  a  weight  of  1,000  Ibs.  The  AUSTRALIAN  SEA-LION  is  even 
larger  than  that  of  the  North  Pacific.  Some  specimens  are  said  to  attain  12  feet  in  length.  Cap- 
tain Cook  mentions  seeing  male  Patagonian  sea-lions  14  feet  long  and  from  8  to  10  feet  in  cir- 
cumference. Though  none  are  now  seen  of  such  dimensions,  skulls  found  on  the  beach  show 
that  anciently  some  of  the  sea-lions  were  larger  than  any  now  known. 

It  should  be  noted  that  all  these  creatures  are  carnivorous,  yet  the  supply  of  food  for  them 
never  seems  to  fail,  as  undoubtedly  it  would  were  the  animals  dependent  for  their  food  on  land. 


B)  fermiiiion  of  Herr  Carl  Haginbtct] 

FEMALE    WALRUS 


This  is  a  photograph  of  the  only  -walrus  -which  has  ever  been  tamed  and  taught  to  perform  tricks.  It  -was  taken  "when  she  -was  Pwo  years  old 
and  -weighed  380  Ibs.  At  that  time  she  consumed  JO  Ibs.  of  boneless  fish  a  day  }  a  year  later  not  less  than  too  Ibs.  satisfied  htr.  She  is  now 
an  inmate  of  the  Roumanian  Zoological  Gardens 


140       THE    LIVING    ANIMALS    OF    THE    WORLD 


By  firminion  cf  the  Htn.  Walter  Rothschild}  [Tring 

MALE   WALRUS 

The  "  tusks"  of  the  "walrus  art  put  to  many  practical  uses  during  fife, 
and  after  death  are  much  valued  for  the  ivory 


THE  WALRUS. 

The  distinguishing  features  of  the  walrus 
have  been  mentioned  in  the  introductory  re- 
marks to  this  chapter.  It  should  be  added 
that  it  has  an  external  ear-passage,  though  no 
external  ears,  and  very  thick  and  bristly  whis- 
kers. It  is  practically  confined  to  the  Arctic 
Circle,  though  once  its  range  extended  to  the 
British  coasts  (where  its  bones  are  found  in 
the  Suffolk  Crag)  and  to  Virginia.  The  skull 
of  one  was  found  in  the  peat  at  Ely — evidence 
that  it  once  ascended  rivers. 

The  walrus  stands  alone ;  it  is  a  real  mon- 
ster of  the  deep.  Strange  and  awful  stories 
were  told  of  it  by  some  of  the  early  voyagers 
to  the  Arctic  Seas ;  but  Captain  Cook  gave  a  very  different  account  of  his  impressions  of 
the  walruses  which  he  saw  on  the  north  coast  of  America :  "  They  lie  in  herds  of  many 
hundreds  on  the  ice,  huddling  over  one  another  like  swine.  (They  lie  just  like  a  lot  of  pigs 
in  a  yard.)  They  roar  and  bray  so  very  loud,  that  in  the  night,  or  in  foggy  weather,  they 
gave  us  notice  of  the  vicinity  of  the  ice  before  we  could  see  it.  We  never  found  the  whole 
herd  asleep,  some  being  always  on  the  watch  These,  on  the  approach  of  the  boat,  would 
awaken  those  next  to  them ;  and  the  alarm  being  thus  gradually  communicated,  the  whole 
herd  would  awake  presently.  But  they  were  seldom  in  a  hurry  to  get  away,  till  after  they  had 
been  once  fired  at ;  they  then  would  tumble  over  one  another  into  the  sea  in  the  utmost  con- 
fusion They  did  not  appear  to  us  to  be  that  dangerous  animal  which  authors  have  described, 
not  even  when  attacked.  Vast  numbers  of  them  would  follow  us,  and  come  close  up  to  the 
boats ;  but  the  flash  of  the  musket  in  the  pan,  or  the  bare  pointing  of  it,  would  send  them  down 
in  an  instant.  The  female  will  defend  her  young  to  the  last,  and  at  the  expense  of  her  own  life, 
whether  in  the  water  or  upon  the  ice ;  nor  will  the  young  one  quit  the  dam,  though  she  be  dead ; 
so  that  if  one  be  killed  the  other  is  certain  prey."  The  long  pendent  tusks,  bristly  whiskers, 
small  bloodshot  eyes,  and  great  size  lent  colour  to  the  terrifying  tales  of  the  walrus.  But  more 
ancient  voyagers  than  Captain  Cook  told  the  truth — that  the  "  morses,"  as  they  called  them,  were 
harmless  creatures,  which  often  followed  the  ships  from  sheer  curiosity.  They  sleep  on  the  ice 
like  elephantine  pigs,  and  dive  and  rout  on  the  sea-bottom  for  clams,  cuttle-fish,  and  seaweeds. 
Probably  the  long  tusks  are  used  to  rake  up  mussels  and  clams ;  they  also  help  the  walrus  to 
climb  on  to  the  ice.  A  young  walrus  was  kept  for  some  time  by  the  members  of  the  Jackson- 
Harmsworth  Expedition,  and  was  found  to  be  an  amusing  pet.  One  kept  on  board  a  Dundee 
whaler  used  to  sleep  with  an  Eskimo  dog,  and  got  into  the  same  kennel  with  it.  It  ate  blubber 
and  salt  pork,  but  liked  the  sailors'  pea  soup  better  than  anything  else ;  it  was  most  sociable,  and 
could  not  bear  to  be  alone — would  tumble  down  the  hatchway  to  seek  the  society  of  its  beloved 
sailors,  and  scramble  into  the  cabin  if  the  door  were  open.  When  it  fell  ill  and  before  it  died,  it 
seemed  most  grateful  for  any  attention  shown  to  it.  The  parent  walrus  shows  the  greatest  cour- 
age in  trying  to  defend  the  young  one.  Walruses  are  now  scarce ;  but  as  the  ivory  is  the  only 
part  of  them  of  much  present  value,  there  is  a  chance  that  they  may  not  be  killed  off  entirely. 

THE  TRUE  SEALS. 

The  TRUE  SEALS,  with  their  greatly  modified  forms,  heads  set  almost  on  to  their  shoulders, 
with  no  neck  visible,  have  well-developed  claws  on  all  the  toes,  and  in  the  typical  species  have 
double-rooted  and  small  cheek  teeth.  The  number  of  the  incisors  is  variable.  The  GRAY  SEAL 
of  the  North  Atlantic  is  a  large  species  which  visits  the  North  British  coasts  and  the  Hebrides. 


MARINE    CARNIVORA 


141 


One  old  male  shot  off  the  coast  of  Connemara  weighed  nearly  400  Ibs.,  and  was  8  feet  long.  It 
is  found  off  Scandinavia  and  eastwards  to  the  coast  of  Greenland,  and  breeds  off  our  coasts  in 
October  and  November.  This  is  the  large  seal  occasionally  shot  up  Scotch  lochs.  Its  colour  is 
yellowish  gray,  varied  with  blots  and  patches  of  dirty  black  and  brown. 

THE  COMMON  SEAL. 

This  seal  is  smaller  than  the  preceding.  It  breeds  on  parts  of  the  Welsh  and  Cornish  coasts, 
and  is  found  on  both  sides  of  the  Atlantic  and  in  the  North  Pacific.  It  assembles  in  small  herds,  and 
frequents  lochs,  estuaries,  and  river  mouths.  In  the  summer  it  is  fond  of  following  flounders  and 
sea-trout  up  rivers.  A  few  years  ago  one  came  up  the  Thames  and  was  shot  at  Richmond.  The 
young  are  born  in  June,  and  are  grayish  white.  The  adults  are  variously  mottled  with  gray, 
brown,  and  black.  The  fondness  of  seals  for  music  is  proverbial.  Macgillivray,  the  Scotch 
naturalist,  said  that  in  the  Hebrides  he  could  bring  half  a  score  of  them  within  forty  yards  of  him 
by  a  few  notes  on  his  flute,  when  they  would  swim  about  with  their  heads  above  water  like  so 
many  black  dogs.  A  seal  was  captured  by  the  servants  of  a  landowner  near  Clew  Bay,  on  the 
west  coast  of  Ireland,  and  kept  tame  for  four  years.  It  became  so  attached  to  the  house  that, 
after  being  carried  out  to  sea  three  times,  it  returned  on  each  occasion.  The  cruel  wretches  who 
owned  it  then  blinded  it,  out  of  curiosity  to  see  whether  it  could  find  its  way  back  sightless. 
The  poor  animal  did  so  after  eight  days. 

The  common  seal  is  still  fairly  numerous  on  the  rocky  western  coasts  of  the  British  islands, 
though  a  few  old  seals,  unable  to  forget  their  early  habits,  appear  now  and  then  in  Morecambe 
Bay  and  in  the  Solway.  It  is  not  uncommon  off  the  coasts  of  Caithness  and  Sutherland.  It  also 
frequents  a  sand-bank  in  the  Dornoch  Firth,  though  it  has  been  much  persecuted  there.  The 
common  seal  is  gregarious,  while 
the  gray  seal  usually  lives  only  in 
pairs,  or  at  most  in  small  com- 
panies. Two  or  three  dozen  like 
to  lie  closely  packed  on  shore  with 
all  their  heads  turning  seawards. 
The  white  hair  of  the  young  seals 
— which,  as  already  said,  are  bora 
in  June — is  shed  in  a  day  or  two, 
when  the  young  take  to  the  water. 
With  regard  to  their  reputed  mu- 
sical proclivities,  some  experi- 
ments made  at  the  Zoological 
Gardens  did  not  bear  out  this 
belief;  but  there  is  much  evi- 
dence that  in  a  state  of  nature 
they  will  approach  and  listen  to 
music.  The  common  seal  has  a 
large  brain  capacity,  and  is  a  very 
intelligent  creature.  The  upper 
parts  of  this  seal  are  yellowish 
gray,  spotted  with  black  and 
brown,  the  under  parts  being 
silver-gray. 

~,,  f,  A  .  By  firmiinin  of  Htrr  Carl  Hagtntttt]  (Hamburg 

The  HARP-SEAL  is  an  Arctic  WALRUS  AND  SEA-LION 

or  ice-seal  which  sometimes  finds     Another  photograph  oftke  Wfl/rw  tamed  by  Herr  Carl  Hagenbeck.    Notice  the  „„_#„„  fa 

itS  Way  here.      The  young  are  born  the  right-hand  corner^  -which  alto  formed  one  of  the  tame  performing  troupe 


142        THE    LIVING    ANIMALS    OF    THE    WORLD 


Photo  b)  York  and  Son]  [Netting  Hill 

GRAY   SEAL 

itals  are  not  so  ivell  adapted  as  sea-lions  for  getting  about  on  the  dry  land,  and,  except  for 
their  habit  of  coming  ashore  to  bask  in  the  sun,  are  thoroughly  aquatic 


on  ice-floes.  It  is  found  in  great 
herds  in  Davis  Straits,  on  the 
coasts  of  Greenland  and  in  the 
greater  part  of  the  frozen  Arctic 
Ocean.  It  is  the  animal  which 
the  sealing-vessels  which  hunt 
seals  for  oil  and  "  hair  " — that  is, 
the  leather  of  the  skins,  not  the 
fur — seek  and  destroy.  In  the  old 
days  they  could  be  seen  in  tens 
of  thousands  blackening  square 
miles  of  ice.  They  are  still  so 
numerous  that  in  Danish  Green- 
land more  than  30,000  are  taken 
each  year.  The  RINGED  SEAL  is 
a  small  variety,  not  more  than  3 
or  4  feet  in  length,  found  in  great 
numbers  in  the  Far  North.  Its 
flesh  is  the  main  food  of  the 
Eskimo,  and  its  skin  the  clothing  of  the  Greenlanders.  The  seals  make  breathing-holes  in  the 
ice.  There  the  Eskimo  waits  with  uplifted  spear  for  hours  at  a  time,  until  the  seal  comes  up  to 
breathe,  when  it  is  harpooned.  The  BLADDER-NOSED  SEAL  is  a  large  spotted  variety,  with  a 
curious  bladder-like  crest  on  the  head  and  nose  of  the  male.  Unlike  all  other  seals,  it  some- 
times resists  the  hunters  and  attacks  the  Eskimo  in  their  kayaks. 

If  any  evidence  were  needed  of  the  great  destruction  which  the  sealing  and  whaling 
industry  causes,  and  has  caused,  among  the  large  marine  animals,  the  case  of  the  ELEPHANT-SEALS 
ought  to  carry  conviction.  These  are  very  large  seals,  the  male  of  which  has  a  projecting  nose 
like  a  proboscis.  They  were  formerly  found  both  north  and  south  of  the  Equator,  their  main 
haunts  being  on  the  coast  of  California,  and  on  the  islands  of  the  South  Pacific  and  Antarctic 
Ocean.  They  are  gigantic  compared  with  the  common  seals,  some  of  the  males  being  from  16 
to  20  feet  long.  Cuttle-fish  and  seaweed  are  the  principal  food  of  this  seal,  which  was  formerly 
seen  in  astonishing  numbers.  The  whaling-ships  which  hunted  both  these  seals  and  sperm- 
whales  at  the  same  time  almost  destroyed  those  which  bred  on  the  more  accessible  coasts,  just  as 
the  earlier  whalers  entirely  destroyed  Steller's  sea-cow,  and  their  modern  descendants  destroyed 
the  southern  right-whales.  The  elephant-seal  is  now  very  scarce,  and  when  one  is  killed  the 
skin  is  regarded  as  something  of  a  curiosity. 

In  the  records  of  the  voyage  of  the  Challenger  it  is  stated  that  there  were  still  great 
numbers  of  the  elephant-seals  surviving  near  Heard  Island,  and  not  a  few  round  the  shores  of 
Kerguelen  Island.  Professor  Moseley  states  that  on  the  windward  shore  of  Heard  Island  "  there 
is  an  extensive  beach,  called  Long  Beach.  This  was  covered  with  thousands  of  sea-elephants  in 
the  breeding-season ;  but  it  is  only  accessible  by  land,  and  then  only  by  crossing  two  glaciers. 
No  boat  can  safely  land  on  this  shore;  consequently  men  are  stationed  on  the  beach,  and 
live  there  in  huts.  Their  duty  is  constantly  to  drive  the  sea-elephants  from  this  beach  into  the 
sea,  which  they  do  with  whips  made  out  of  the  hides  of  the  seals  themselves.  The  beasts  thus 
ousted  swim  off,  and  often  '  haul  up,'  as  the  term  is,  upon  the  accessible  beach  beyond.  In  very 
stormy  weather,  when  they  are  driven  into  the  sea,  they  are  forced  to  betake  themselves  to  the 
sheltered  side  of  the  island.  Two  or  three  old  males,  which  are  called  <  beach-masters,'  hold  a 
beach  for  themselves  and  cover  it  with  cows,  but  allow  no  other  males  to  haul  up.  They  fight 
furiously,  and  one  man  told  me  that  he  had  seen  an  old  male  take  a  young  one  up  in  his  teeth 
and  throw  him  over,  lifting  him  in  the  air.  The  males  show  fight  when  whipped,  and  are  with 


Photo  bf  J.  »f.  McLiUan] 


GREY   SEAL 

Note  the  difference  bet-ween  the  *ar,  and  the  lea-lion',  hind  JJipper,.      When  on  land,  ,he  teal  advance,  by  a  jumping  movement,  produced  by 

the  muulet  of  the  body,  assisted  far-ward  by  the  front  ftppert 

143 


THE    LIVING    ANIMALS    OF    THE    WORLD 


great  difficulty  driven  into  the  sea.  The  females  give  birth  to  their  young  soon  after  their 
arrival.  The  new-born  young  ones  are  almost  black,  unlike  the  adults,  which  are  of  a  light  slate- 
brown.  They  are  suckled  by  the  female  for  some  time,  and  then  left  to  themselves,  lying  on  the 
beach,  where  they  seem  to  grow  fat  without  further  feeding.  They  are  always  allowed  by  the 
sealers  to  lie  like  this, '  in  order  to  make  more  oil.'  This  account  was  corroborated  by  all  the  sealers 
I  met,  but  I  do  not  understand  it.  Probably  the  cows  visit  their  offspring  unobserved  from  time 
to  time.  Peron  says  that  both  parent  elephant-seals  stay  with  the  young  without  taking  any 
food  at  all  till  the  latter  are  about  six  or  seven  weeks  old,  and  that  the  old  ones  conduct  the 
young  to  the  water  and  carefully  keep  them  company.  The  rapid  increase  in  v/eight  is  in 
accordance  with  Peron's  account.  Goodridge  gives  a  somewhat  different  story — namely,  that 
after  the  females  leave  the  young  the  old  males  and  the  pups  proceed  inland,  as  far  as  two  miles 
sometimes,  and  stop  without  food  for  more  than  a  month,  during  which  time  they  lose  fat.  The 
male  sea-elephants  come  ashore  for  the  purpose  of  breeding  about  the  middle  of  August,  the 
females  a  little  later." 

Formerly  the  elephant-seals  were  found  as  far  north  as  the  Californian  coast,  where  their 
capture  was  the  main  business  of  the  sealing-traders.  This  species  also  formed  the  mainstay  of 
the  far  southern  sealers.  As  the  elephant-seals  were  killed  off,  so  the  business  became  less  and 
less  profitable.  It  is  to  be  hoped  that  the  voyages  of  exploration  to  the  Antarctic  ice-fringe  will 
not  lead  to  the  discovery  of  fresh  sealing-grounds,  for  if  this  is  the  case  there  is  little  chance  that 
any  of  the  southern  seals  will  escape  entire  destruction.  Some  form  of  close  time  has  already 
been  enforced  in  the  pursuit  of  the  hair-seals  of  Northern  Europe ;  but  it  is  very  desirable  that 
the  species  still  found  on  our  own  coasts  should  also  receive  protection.  Except  when  they  paid 
visits  to  the  fixed  salmon-nets,  they  never  did  any  harm  ;  and  fixed  nets  are  now  illegal.  When 
a  seal  learned  the  use  of  the  stake-nets,  which  these  animals  were  very  quick  to  understand,  it 
would  wait  quietly  till  it  saw  a  fish  caught,  and  then  swim  up  and  carry  it  off  before  the  fisher- 
men could  take  it. 

Two  species — namely,  the  COMMON  SEAL  and  GRAY  SEAL — still  regularly  visit  our  shores. 
The  common  seal  breeds  on  our  southwestern  coasts,  and  the  gray  seal  off  the  Hebrides.  If  the 
common  seal  were  accorded  a  close  time,  its  numbers  would  probably  increase  ;  and  the  spectacle 
of  such  interesting  creatures  visible  on  our  coast  could  not  fail  to  be  of  great  interest.  All  the 
old  legends  of  mermaids  and  wild  men  of  the  sea  are  based  on  the  capture  of  seals.  Perhaps  the 
most  ancient  is  one  which  records  such  a  capture  in  the  river  near  Orford  Castle,  in  Suffolk,  in 
the  reign  of  Henry  II.  The  ignorant  soldiers  were  persuaded  that  it  was  a  man,  and  tortured  it 

to  make  it  speak.  They  then  took  it 
to  the  church,  and  showed  it  the 
sacred  emblems.  As  it  "  showed  no 
reverence,"  they  took  it  back  to  the 
castle,  and  fed  it  on  fish.  It  was  al- 
lowed to  go  into  the  river,  but  re- 
turned to  its  captors  of  its  own  accord. 
Later  it  swam  away  to  the  sea.  The 
monk  who  recorded  the  story  stated 
his  conviction  that  this  seal  was  an 
evil  spirit  which  had  got  into  the 
body  of  a  drowned  sailor.  A  gray 
seal  was  taken  not  many  years  ago  in 
the  creek  leading  up  to  the  little  town 
of  Wells,  in  Norfolk.  It  was  so  tame 

BJftrmlllhn  of  the  Han.  Walter  Rothschild]  [.Tring 

HARP-SEAL  that  the  fishermen  caught  it  by  tnrow- 

The  harp-seal  comes  from  Greenland  ing  coats  over  it  as  it  lay  on  the  mud. 


Br  ftrmusicn  tftht  Hen.  Walnr 


LTrlng 


SEA-ELEPHANT 


These  enormous  seals  ( about  20  feet  in  length )  are  becoming  very  tcarce.  When  they  come  ashore,  they  are  easily  approached,  though  not 
so  easily  killed.  They  are  much  valued  for  their  oil.  Nott  the  trunk-like  prolongation  of  the  nose,  -which,  when  the  animal  it  excited,  becomes 
distended 

145 


CHAPTER   IX. 

THE  RODENTS,  OR  GNAWING  ANIMALS. 


T 


HE  Rodents,  or  Gnawing  Mammals,  have  all 
the  same  general  type  of  teeth,  from  which 
the  order  receives  its  distinctive  name.  There 
are  a  very  large  number  of  families  and  of  genera  among 
the  rodents,  more  than  in  any  other  order  of  mammals. 
All  the  rodents  possess  a  pair  of  long  chisel-shaped  in- 
cisor teeth  in  each  jaw.  The  ends  of  these  teeth  are 
worn  into  a  sharp  edge  which  cuts  like  a  steel  tool.  In 
most  rodents  these  are  the  only  teeth  in  that  part  of  the 
jaw,  a  wide  gap  intervening  between  them  and  the  other 
teeth.  The  hares,  rabbits,  and  calling-hares  have  a 
minute  pair  of  teeth  set  just  behind  the  large  pair  in 
the  upper  jaw.  The  grinding-teeth  are  set  far  back, 
and  are  never  more  than  six  in  number,  these  being 
sometimes  reduced  to  four.  Rodents  generally  have 
five  toes  on  the  fore  feet ;  in  the  hind  feet  there  are  in 
some  cases  only  four,  or  even  three.  None  of  the 
species  are  of  great  size ;  the  largest,  the  CAPYBARA,  \ 
water-living  animal  of  South  America,  is  about  the 
dimensions  of  a  small  pig.  But  the  number  of  species 
of  small  rodents  is  prodigious,  and  their  fecundity  so 
great  that  they  constantly  increase  in  favourable  seasons 
until  they  become  a 
plague.  Voles,  lem- 
m  i  n  g  s ,  field-mice, 

and  rabbits  are  constant  sources  of  loss  to  agriculture  in  their 
seasons  of  extraordinary  increase.  Most  rodents  feed  on 
vegetables,  though  rats  and  mice  have  developed  carniv- 
orous tastes.  No  rodents  have  canine  teeth. 


THE  SQUIRRELS. 

Those  of  the  order  of  Gnawing  Animals  which  have 
only  two  incisors  in  each  jaw,  and  no  rudimentary  teeth  like 
those  possessed  by  the  hares,  are  called  "  Simple-toothed 
Rodents."  Of  these  the  family  usually  placed  first  in  order 
is  that  of  the  SQUIRRELS  and  their  allies.  The  True  Squirrels 
and  Marmots  have  five  molar  teeth  on  each  side  of  the 
upper  jaw. 

Squirrels  are  found  in  nearly  every  temperate  part  of 
the  globe,  from  Norway  to  Japan,  and  in  very  great  numbers 
in  India  and  the  tropics.  Everywhere  they  are  favourites ; 

146 


Photo  by  W.  P.  Dando] 

CAPYBARA 

TAiit  the  largest  of  the  rodents,  is  found  by  the  rivers  of 
South  America 


By  fermission  of  Professor  Bumpus,  New  T 

FLYING-SQJJIRREL 

One  of  the  small  species  of  the  group 


THE    RODENTS,    OR    GNAWING    ANIMALS       147 


and  though  they  do  some 
mischief  in  highly  cultivated 
countries,  they  are  among 
the  most  harmless  of  crea- 
tures. Most  of  them  live  on 
wild  nuts  and  the  kernels  of 
fruit ;  they  suck  eggs  occa- 
sionally, and  in  Canada  will 
come  to  the  traps  in  ex- 
treme cold  and  eat  the  meat 
with  which  they  are  baited. 

THE  RED  SQUIRREL. 

This,  the  common  squirrel 
here,  is  representative  of  the 
whole  order.  In  old  Scandi- 
navian legends  the  squirrel 
is  represented  as  the  mes- 
senger of  the  gods,  who  car- 
ried the  news  of  what  was 
going  on  in  the  world  to 
the  other  animals.  Together 
with  its  close  relations,  it  is 
the  most  graceful  of  all 
climbers  of  trees.  With  its 
long  tail  waving  behind  it, 
it  races  up  or  down  the 
trunks  and  across  the  for- 
ests from  branch  to  branch 
as  easily  as  a  horse  gallops 
across  a  plain.  It  will  de- 
scend the  trunk  head  down- 
wards as  fast  as  it  runs  up. 
Squirrels  pair  for  life,  and 
are  most  affectionate  little 
creatures,  always  playing  or 
doing  gymnastics  together.  The  squirrel  builds  a  very  good  house,  in  which  he  shows  himself 
far  more  sensible  than  the  monkeys  and  apes  ;  it  is  made  of  leaves,  moss,  and  sticks.  The  sticks 
come  first  as  a  platform ;  then  this  is  carpeted,  and  a  roof  put  on.  No  one  who  has  seen  com- 
mon squirrels  at  work  house-building  has  ever  described  exactly  how  they  do  it ;  it  is  the  best 
nest  made  by  any  mammal,  thoroughly  well  fitted  together  and  waterproof.  In  this  nest  the 
young  squirrels  are  born  in  the  month  of  June ;  that  year  they  keep  with  the  parents,  and  do 
not  "  set  up  for  themselves  "  till  the  next  spring.  The  red  colour  is  very  persistent  in  squirrels. 
One  Chinese  Variety,  black  and  red,  has  even  bright  red  teeth.  In  cold  countries  the  red  squirrels 
make  stores  of  food,  but  spend  much  of  the  winter  asleep. 

It  is  a  great  pity  that  in  England  no  ones  tries  to  tame  the  squirrels  as  they  do  in  America; 
there  they  are  the  greatest  ornament  of  the  parks  of  cities,  coming  down  to  be  fed  as  tamely  as 
our  sparrows.  The  writer  has  known  one  instance  in  which  a  lady  induced  wild  squirrels  to  pay 
daily  visits  to  her  bedroom  for  food  ;  they  used  to  climb  up  the  ivy  and  jump  in  at  the  open 
window.  The  great  enemies  of  squirrels  near  houses  are  the  cats,  which  kill  all  the  young  ones 


Photo  hy  A.  S.  Rutland  if  Sent 

FLYING-SQJJIRREL 

The  large  flying-squirrels  are  mainly  nocturnal.      They  can  leap  a  distance  0/40  feet  with  the  aid 
of  the  parachutes  of  skin  stretching  from  the  fore  to  the  hind  limbs 


148        THE    LIVING    ANIMALS    OF    THE    WORLD 


when  they  first  come  down 
from  the  trees.  In  a  garden  in 
the  country  a  pair  of  squirrels 
had  a  family  every  summer 
five  years,  but  none  ever  sur- 
vived the  cats'  persistent  at- 
tacks. These  squirrels  were 
most  amusing  and  improvi- 
dent. They  used  to  hide 
horse-chestnuts,  small  pota- 
toes, kernels  of  stone  fruit, 
bulbs  of  crocuses,  and  other 
treasures  in  all  kinds  of  places, 
and  then  forget  them.  After 
deep  snows  they  might  be  seen 
scampering  about  looking  into 
every  hole  and  crevice  to  see 
whether  that  happened  to  be 
the  place  where  they  had  hid- 
[Regent's  Park  <jen  something  useful.  Much  of 
DORSAL  SQJJIRREL  FROM  CENTRAL  AMERICA  the  store  was  buried  among  the 

A  most  beautiful  sfecies.      The  main  colour  h  red,  but  the  back  is  French  gray,  and  the  tail        roots    of  trees    and  bushes,  and 
French  gray  and  red  mingled.  quite  hidden  when  the  SHOW  fell. 

THE  GRAY  SQUIRREL. 

In  Northern  Europe,  and  across  Northern  Asia  and  America,  a  large  gray  squirrel  is  found. 
From  its  fur  the  "  squirrel-cloaks  "  are  made.  These  squirrels  live  mainly  on  the  seeds  of  pines 
in  winter,  and  on  wild  fruits,  shoots,  and  berries  in  summer.  It  has  been  noticed  that  they  will 
entirely  forsake  some  great  area  of  forest  for  a  year  or  two,  and  as  suddenly  return  to  it.  The 
marten  and  the  sable  are  the  great  enemies  of  the  gray  squirrel,  but  the  eagle-owl  and  goshawk 
also  kill  numbers  of  them.  In  many  countries  the  flesh  of  the  squirrel  is  eaten. 

The  gray-and-black  squirrel  of  the  United  states  was  thus  described  some  sixty  years  ago : 
"  It  rises  with  the  sun,  and  continues  industriously  engaged  in  the  search  of  food  for  four  or  five 
hours  every  morning.  During  the  warm  weather  of  spring  it  prepares  its  nest  on  the  branch  of  a 

tree,  constructing  it  first  of  dried 
sticks,  which  it  breaks  off,  or,  if  these 
are  not  at  hand,  of  green  twigs  as 
thick  as  a  finger,  which  it  gnaws  off 
from  the  boughs.  These  it  lays  in 
the  fork  of  a  tree,  so  as  to  make  a 

&  ^..~^r"'  fZ£3t    -       ;'  -  framework.     It  lines  this  framework 

=™        •  with  leaves  and  over  these  again  it 

spreads  moss.  In  making  the  nest, 
the  pair  is  usually  engaged  for  sev- 
eral days,  spending  an  hour  in  the 
morning  hard  at  work.  The  noise 
they  make  in  cutting  the  sticks  and 

A.  s.  Rutland  iff  Sons  carrying   material   is   heard  at  some 

ASIATIC  CHIPMUNKS  distance."     In  winter  they  reside  en- 

Small  ground-squirrels  which  store  food  for  the  winter  tirely     in     the     holes     of    trCCS,    where 


THE    RODENTS,    OR    GNAWING    ANIMALS       149 


thtit  by  W  P.  Dandt] 

RED-FOOTED    GROUND-S  QJU I R  R  E  L 

Tbii  sfecies  has  some  of  the  characteristics  of  the  trce-syuirre/s,  among 
them  the  busby  tail 


their  young  are  in  most  cases  born.  Green 
corn  and  young  wheat  suffered  greatly  from 
their  depredations,  and  a  wholesale  war  of 
destruction  used  to  be  waged  against  them 
everywhere.  In  Pennsylvania  an  old  law 
offered  threepence  a  head  from  the  public 
treasury  for  every  squirrel  destroyed,  and  in 
1749  the  enormous  sum  of  $40,000  was  paid 
out  of  the  public  funds  for  this  purpose.  In 
those  days  vast  migrations  of  these  squirrels 
used  to  take  place,  exciting  not  only  the 
wonder  but  the  fear  of  the  old  settlers.  In 
the  Far  Northwest  multitudes  of  squirrels 
used  to  congregate  in  different  districts, 
forming  scattered  bands,  which  all  moved 
in  an  easterly  direction,  gathering  into  larger 
bodies  as  they  went.  Neither  mountains 
nor  rivers  stopped  them.  On  they  came,  a 
devouring  army,  laying  waste  the  corn-  and 
wheat-fields,  until  guns,  cats,  hawks,  foxes, 
and  owls  destroyed  them. 


THE   FLYING-SQUIRRELS. 

One  of  the  finest  squirrels  is  the  TAGUAN,  a  large  squirrel  of  India,  Ceylon,  and  the  Malacca 
forests.  It  is  a  "  flying-squirrel,"  with  a  body  2  feet  long,  and  a  bushy  tail  of  the  same  length. 
Being  nocturnal,  it  is  not  often  seen ;  but  when  it  leaps  it  unfolds  a  flap  of  skin  on  either  sidef 
which  is  stretched  (like  a  sail)  when  the  fore  and  hind  limbs  are  extended  in  the  act  of  leaping  ; 
it  then  forms  a  parachute.  The  colour  of  this  squirrel  is  gray,  brown,  and  pale  chestnut.  There 
are  a  number  of  different  flying-squirrels  in  China,  Formosa,  and  Japan,  and  in  the  forests  of 
Central  America.  One  small  flying-squirrel,  the  POLATOUCHE  is  found  in  Northeast  Russia 
and  Siberia.  It  flies  from  tree  to  tree  with  immense  bounds,  assisted  by  the  "  floats  "  on  its 
sides.  Though  only  six  inches  long,  it  can  cover  distances  of  30  feet  and  more  without  diffi- 
culty. Wherever  there  are  birch  forests  this  little  squirrel  is  found.  One  nearly  as  small  is  a 
native  of  the  Southern  states  of 
America,  ranging  as  far  south  as 
Guatemala. 

In  Africa,  south  of  the  Sa- 
hara, the  place  of  the  Oriental  fly- 
ing-squirrel is  taken  by  a  separate 
family.  They  have  a  different  ar- 
rangement of  the  parachute  from 
that  of  the  flying-squirrels  of  India. 
This  wide  fold  of  skin  is  supported 
in  the  Asiatic  squirrels  by  a  carti- 
lage extending  from  the  wrist.  In 
the  South  African  flying-squirrels 

this  support  springs  from  the  elbow,      j.*,,,  *,  Dr.  R.  w.  sw*w»i  [ira 

not  from  the  wrist;   they  have  also  BLACK  FOX-SQUIRREL 

horny     plates      On      the      Under-SUrfaCC  The  fur  of  this  species  is  as  -valuable  as  that  of  the  gray  squirrel 


150       THE    LIVING    ANIMALS    OF    THE    WORLD 


Photo  by  Scholastic  Photo.  Co.]  [Panon's  Green 

LONG-TAILED    MARMOT 

The  marmots  live  by  preference  on  high  and  cold  mountains  just  beloio  the  line 
of  eternal  snow  in  Europe.  In  Asia,  where  the  snow-line  is  higher^  they  are  found 
at  altitudes  of  12,000  feet 


of  the  tail.  Many  of  the  tropical  fly- 
ing-squirrels are  quite  large  animals, 
some  being  as  large  as  a  small  cat 

Mr.  W.  H.  Adams  says  of  PEL'S 
FLYING-SQUIRREL,  a  West  African 
species :  "  These  squirrels  come  out 
of  their  holes  in  the  trees  some  hours 
after  sunset,  and  return  long  before 
daybreak.  They  are  only  visible  on 
bright  moonlight  nights.  The  na- 
tives say  that  they  do  not  come  out 
of  their  holes  at  all  in  stormy  weather, 
or  on  very  dark  nights  ;  they  live  on 
berries  and  fruits,  being  especially 
fond  of  the  palm-oil  nut,  which  they 
take  to  their  nests  to  peel  and  eat. 
They  pass  from  tree  to  tree  with 
great  rapidity,  usually  choosing  to 
jump  from  a  higher  branch  to  a 
lower  one,  and  then  climbing  up  again  to  make  a  fresh  start.  .  .  .  They  litter  about  twice 
in  a  year,  once  in  September.  The  young  remain  in  the  nest  for  about  nine  weeks,  during 
which  they  are  fed  by  the  old  ones  on  such  food  as  shoots  and  kernels.  They  do  not  attempt  to 
jump  or  '  fly '  till  the  end  of  that  period,  extending  the  length  of  their  jumps  with  their  growth." 

The  ETHIOPIAN  SPINY  SQUIRRELS  have  coarse  spiny  fur;  the  little  INDIAN  PALM-SQUIRREL 
is  marked  with  longitudinal  dark  and  light  stripes  on  the  back ;  others  have  light  bands  on 
their  flanks. 

THE  GROUND-SQUIRRELS. 

Many  tree-living  squirrels  pass  a  good  deal  of  their  time  on  the  ground ;  but  there  are 
others  which  burrow  like  mice,  and,  though  they  climb  admirably,  prefer  to  make  their  nest,  and 
the  regular  squirrel's  store  of  nuts,  in  the  earth,  and  not  in  the  branches.  The  best  known  is  the 
little  CHIPMUNK  of  the  United  States,  a  favourite  pet  of  many  American  children.  There  are 
many  kinds  of  chipmunks,  all  of  which  have  pouches  in  their  cheeks  for  carrying  food.  The 
commonest  is  the  STRIPED  CHIPMUNK.  It  is  from  8  to  10  inches  long,  with  white  stripes, 
bordered  with  dark  brown  on  each  side.  The  chipmunks'  hoards  of  grain  and  nuts  are  so  large 
that  the  Indians  used  to  rob  them  in  times  of  scarcity.  There  is  also  a  ground-squirrel  in 
Northern  Europe  and  Northern  Asia  with  much  the  same  habits  as  the  chipmunk. 

The  burrows  of  the  chipmunks  are  deep  and  extensive,  and  into  them  these  rodents  convey 
such  quantities  of  grain  and  maize  as  to  inflict  considerable  loss  on  the  farmer.  The  SIBERIAN 
GROUND-SQUIRREL  has  been  known  to  conceal  8  Ibs.  weight  of  corn  in  its  hole.  This  has  a 

o 

sleeping-chamber  at  the  end,  filled  with  moss  and  leaves,  on  which  the  family  sleep.  From  this 
side  passages  are  dug,  all  leading  to  chambers  stocked  with  food,  often  far  in  excess  of  the  wants 
of  these  provident  little  creatures.  The  surplus  stores  are  said  to  be  eaten  in  the  spring  by  wild 
boars  and  bears. 

THE  PRAIRIE-DOGS  AND  MARMOTS. 

Between  squirrels  which  live  in  holes  in  the  ground  and  the  marmots  and  their  relations  no 
great  gap  is  found.  These  creatures  drop  the  climbing  habit  and  increase  that  of  burrowing.  In 
disposition  most  of  them  are  still  very  squirrel-like,  though  they  gain  something  in  solemnity  of 
demeanour  by  never  going  far  from  their  holes.  A  prairie-dog  or  marmot  is  like  a  squirrel 


THE    RODENTS,    OR    GNAWING    ANIMALS       151 

which  has  left  society  and  settled  down  in  a  suburb.  The  little  creatures  known  in  America  as 
PRAIRIE-DOGS  have  in  Northern  Europe  and  the  steppes  of  Asia  some  first  cousins,  called 
SUSLIKS.  Both  live  in  colonies,  burrow  quickly  and  well,  feed  on  grass,  and  have  a  habit  of  sit- 
ting bolt  upright  outside  their  holes,  keeping  a  lookout  for  enemies.  The  prairie-dogs  also  bark 
like  a  little  dog  when  alarmed.  Before  going  to  sleep,  the  latter  always  carry  the  dry  grass  on 
which  they  slept  out  of  their  burrow,  and  carefully  bite  up  into  short  lengths  a  fresh  supply  to 
make  their  beds.  The  susliks  and  prairie-dogs  are  of  a  khaki  colour,  like  the  sand  in  which  they 
delight  to  burrow.  Every  one  has  heard  that  the  little  burrowing-owls  live  in  the  same  holes  in 
company  with  the  prairie-dogs,  and  that  the  rattlesnake  sometimes  eats  both  the  young  prairie- 
dogs  and  the  young  owls.  An  acquaintance  of  the  writer  who  had  killed  a  rattlesnake  actually 


trminltn  o/tfit  New  Tori  Zoological  Socitty 

PRAIRIE-DOGS,    OR   MARMOTS 

A  most  characteristic  picture.      It  shows  the  prairie-dogs'  method  of  holding  their  food  while  they  eat,  or  cutting  up  grass  to  make  their  teds 

took  a  young  prairie-dog  from  its  mouth.  The  snake  had  not  struck  it  with  the  poison,  but  had 
begun  to  swallow  it  uninjured.  It  was  still  alive,  and  recovered. 

The  suslik  was  once  found  in  England ;  its  remains,  with  those  of  other  steppe  animals,  arc 
found  in  the  river  gravels  and  brick  earth  in  the  London  basin.  The  prairie-dogs  form  a  kind 
of  connecting-link  between  the  susliks  and  the  true  marmots.  They  have  short  ears,  short  tails, 
rounded  bodies,  and  possess  great  powers  of  digging.  When  a  prairie-dog  has  nothing  better  to 
do,  it  usually  spends  its  time  either  in  digging  holes  or  in  cutting  up  grass  or  anything  handy  to 
make  its  bed  with.  Young  prairie-dogs  are  not  so  large  as  a  mouse  when  born.  The  adult 
animals  feed  almost  entirely  on  grass  and  weeds  in  their  wild  state ;  they  seem  quite  independent 
of  water,  and  able  to  live  in  the  driest  places. 

The  ALPINE  MARMOT  is  a  much  larger  species  than  the  prairie-dog.  It  lives  on  the  Alps 
just  below  the  line  of  perpetual  snow.  From  five  to  fifteen  marmots  combine  in  colonies,  dig 
very  deep  holes,  and,  like  the  prairie-dogs,  carefully  line  them  with  grass ;  they  also  store  up  dry 


152        THE    LIVING    ANIMALS    OF    THE    WORLD 


grass  for  food.  In  autumn  they  grow  very  fat,  and  are  then  dug  out  of  the  burrows  by  the 
mountaineers  for  food.  Young  marmots  used  to  be  tamed  and  carried  about  by  the  Savoyard 
boys,  but  this  practice  is  now  rare.  The  monkey  is  probably  more  attractive  to  the  public  than 
the  fat  and  sleepy  marmot.  Marmots  are  about  the  size  of  a  rabbit,  and  have  close  iron-gray  fur. 

Tschudi,  the  naturalist  of  the  Alps,  says  of  the  marmots  that  they  are  the  only  mammal 
which  inhabits  the  region  of  the  snows.  No  other  warm-blooded  quadrupeds  live  at  such  an 
altitude.  In  spring,  when  the  lower  snows  melt,  there  are  generally  small  pieces  of  short  turf 
near  their  holes,  as  well  as  great  rocks,  precipices,  and  stones.  Here  they  make  their  burrows, 
outside  which  they  feed,  with  a  sentinel  always  posted  to  warn  them  of  the  approach  of  the  eagle 
or  lammergeir.  The  young  marmots,  from  four  to  six  in  number,  are  born  in  June.  When  they 
first  appear  at  the  mouth  of  the  holes,  they  are  bluish  gray  ;  later  the  fur  gains  a  brownish  tint. 
The  burrows  are  usually  at  a  height  of  not  less  than  7,000  or  8,000  feet.  Winter  comes  on 
apace.  By  the  end  of  autumn  the  ground  is  already  covered  with  snow,  and  the  marmots  retire 
to  sleep  through  the  long  winter.  As  they  do  not  become  torpid  for  some  time,  they  require 
food  when  there  is  none  accessible ;  this  they  store  up  in  the  form  of  dried  grass,  which  they  cut 
in  August,  and  leave  outside  their  burrows  for  a  time  to  be  turned  into  hay. 

The  ALPINE  MARMOT  is  also  found  in  the  Carpathians  and  the  Pyrenees.  Another  species, 
the  BOBAC,  ranges  eastward  from  the  German  frontier  across  Poland,  Russia,  and  the  steppes  of 
Asia  to  Kamchatka.  In  Ladak  and  Western  Tibet  a  short-tailed  species,  the  HIMALAYAN 
MARMOT,  is  found,  sometimes  living  at  a  height  of  nearly  17,000  feet.  The  GOLDEN  MARMOT  is 
found  in  the  Pamirs. 

THE  BEAVERS. 

The  BEAVERS  are  classed  as  the  last  family  of  the  squirrel-like  group  of  the  Rodents,  and  the 
largest  creatures  of  that  order  in  the  northern  hemisphere.  The  value  of  their  fur  has  caused 
their  destruction  in  great  measure  where  they  were  once  numerous,  and  has  led  to  their  total 
extirpation  where  there  is  evidence  that  they  existed  as  a  not  uncommon  animal.  They  were 
formerly  distributed  over  the  greater  part  of  Europe.  In  England  semi-fossilised  remains  show 

that  they  were  not  uncommon.  In 
Wales  beavers'  skins  were  mentioned 
in  the  year  940  in  the  laws  of  Howel 
Dha,  and  in  1188  Giraldus  stated  that 
they  were  living  on  the  river  Teify, 
in  Cardiganshire.  Beavers  were  for- 
merly found  in  France,  especially  on 
the  Rhone,  where  a  few  are  still  said 
to  survive,  in  Germany,  Austria,  Rus- 
sia, Poland,  and  in  Sweden,  and  Nor- 
way, on  the  rivers  Dwina  and  Pet- 
chora,  and  on  the  great  rivers  of 
Siberia.  A  few  still  remain  in  two 
districts  of  Norway,  and  some  were 
known  to  frequent  the  Elbe  in  1878. 
The  Moldau,  in  Bohemia,  is  also 
credited  with  a  colony ;  but  parts  of 
the  Danube  are  believed  to  be  the 

B)  ftrmitsion  of  the  New  Tori  Zoological  Society  ,-,  i 

chief  haunt  of  the  European  beaver 
AMERICAN   BEAVER  at  the  present  time.     The  American 

The  engineering  fiat*  of  the  heaven,  in  damming  streams  and  forming  pooh,  are  the        beaver,    though    its    range    haS    greatly 

J         &  r  1     •      -tMi    _..£e~:~.,4-1-ir  Miimpr- 


*nost  remarkable  achievements  performed  by  li-v:ng  animals 


contracted,  is  still  sufficiently  numer- 


3S3 


154       THE    LIVING    ANIMALS    OF    THE    WORLD 


Photo  by  C.  Rild\ 


N.B. 


BEAVER 

This  is  a  photograph  of  a  swimming  bea-ver.      Note  the  advantage  it  bas  taken  of  the 
eddy  in  the  stream 


ous    for  its  fur  to  be  a  valuable 
item  in  the  winter  fur-sales. 

The  beaver's  tail  is  flattened 
like  a  paddle  and  covered  with 
scales ;  its  hind  feet  are  webbed 
between  the  toes ;  it  has  sharp 
claws,  which  aid  it  in  scratching 
up  mud,  and  a  thick,  close  fur, 
with  long  brown  hair  above,  and 
a  most  beautiful  and  close  under- 
•M»  ^_  fur,  which,  when  the  long  hairs 
^H  have  all  been  removed,  forms  the 
beaver  fur  of  which  hats  were 
once  made,  and  trimmings  for 
ladies'  jackets  and  men's  fur  coats 
are  now  manufactured.  There  are 
two  separate  lines  of  interest  in 
connection  with  the  animal — pol- 
itical and  zoological.  The  value  of  the  fur  was  anciently  such  that,  when  the  first  French 
explorers  began  to  search  the  Canadian  lakes,  and  later  when  the  Hudson  Bay  Company  suc- 
ceeded to  the  French  dominion,  the  history  of  Canada  was  largely  bound  up  with  beaver-catch- 
ing and  the  sale  of  the  skins.  In  the  early  days  of  the  Company  the  "  standard  of  trade  "  of 
the  Northwest  was  a  beaver  skin.  For  nearly  a  century  the  northern  territories  were  organised, 
both  under  French  and  English  rule,  with  a  view  to  the  beaver  trade.  The  beaver  was,  and  is, 
the  crest  of  the  Canadian  Dominion. 

The  beavers'  engineering  feats  have  for  their  object  to  keep  up  a  uniform  depth  of  water  in 
the  streams  where  they  live.  On  large  rivers  there  is  always  enough  water  for  the  beaver  to 
swim  in  safety  from  its  enemies,  and  to  cover  the  mouth  of  the  hole  which  it  makes  in  the 
bank,  just  as  a  water-rat  does.  But  on  small  streams,  especially  in  Canada,  where  during  the 
winter  the  frost  prevents  the 
springs  from  running,  there  is 
always  the  danger  that  the 
water  may  fall  so  low  that  the 
beavers  would  be  left  in  shal- 
low water,  a  prey  to  the  wol- 
verine, wolf,  lynx,  or  human 
enemies.  To  keep  up  the 
water,  the  beavers  make  a 
dyke  or  dam  across  the 
stream.  This  they  go  on 
building  up  and  strengthen- 
ing until  they  have  ponded 
back  a  large  pool.  In  time, 
as  they  never  seem  to  stop 
adding  to  their  dam,  the  pooi 
floods  the  ground  on  either 
side  of  the  stream  and  makes 

Phttt  b)  Dr.  R.  W.  Shufcldt]  [ffaihingttn 

a  small   lake.     It   flows    over  MUSK-RAT 

i    parts    of   the    bank    where       A  imall  -water  rodent,  a  native  of  our  rivers.       Immense  numbers  are  killed  for  the  sake  of 

their  holes  are ;  these  also  be-  their  fur 


THE    RODENTS,    OR    GNAWING    ANIMALS       155 


come  filled  up,  because  the  beavers  carry  into  them  every  day  fresh  quantities  of  wood-chips  to 
make  their  beds.  The  beavers  then  scrape  out  the  earth  on  the  top,  pile  sticks  over  this,  plaster 
the  sticks  with  mud,  and  so  build  a  dome  over  their  bedroom.  In  time  this  is  raised  higher  and 
higher,  the  artificial  lake  rises  too,  and  the  complete  "  beaver-lodge  "  surrounded  with  water  is 
seen.  The  old  trappers  who  found  these  in  situ  imagined  they  were  built  at  once  and  outright 
in  the  water.  The  experiments  and  observations  at  Leonardslee,  in  Sussex,  where  Sir  E.G.Loder 
has  kept  beavers  in  a  stream  for  ten  years,  show  that  the  "  evolution  "  of  the  lodge  is  gradual  and 
only  incidental.  But  the  building  of  the  dyke,  the  cutting  of  the  trees,  and  the  making  of  the 
pool  are  done  with  a  purpose  and  definite  aim. 

What  this  is,  and  how  done,  is  explained  in  the  following  description  of  the  beaver  colony 
at  Leonardslee :  "  Their  first  object  was  to  form  in  the  brook  a  pool,  with  water  maintained 
at  a  constant  height,  to  keep  the  mouth  of  their  burrow  in  the  bank  submerged  during 
the  droughts  of  summer.  To  this  end  they  build  a  dam,  as  good  a  specimen  of  their  work 
as  can  be  seen  even  in  Canada.  Its  situation  was  carefully  chosen.  A  small  oak,  growing 
on  what  appears  to  have 
been  a  projection  in  the 
bank,  gives  support  to  the 
work.  It  may  be  con- 
cluded that  this  was  part 
of  their  intention ;  for 
though  they  have  cut 
down  every  other  tree  in 
their  enclosure  to  which 
they  had  access,  except 
two  or  three  very  large 
ones,  they  have  left  this 
small  tree  which  supports 
the  dam  untouched. 
(Later,  when  the  dyke  was 
stronger,  they  cut  it  down.) 
Above  this  stretches  the 
dam,  some  1 2  yards  wide, 
and  rising  5^  feet  from 
the  base  to  the  crest.  The 
beavers  build  it  solidly  of 
battens  of  alder,  willow, 

larch,  and  other  straight-limbed  trees,  cut  into  lengths  of  from  2  to  3  feet.  The  bark  of  each 
was  carefully  gnawed  off  for  food ;  and  the  whole  work,  constructed  of  these  cut  and  peeled 
logs,  has  a  very  regular  and  artificial  appearance.  Smaller  twigs  and  sticks  are  jammed  in 
between  the  battens,  and  the  interstices  are  stuffed  with  mud,  which  the  beavers  bring  up  from 
the  bottom  of  the  pool  in  their  mouths,  and  push  in  with  their  feet,  making  the  whole  structure 
as  water-tight  as  a  wall."  This  dam  converted  what  was  a  narrow  brook  into  a  long  lake,  some 
50  yards  by  15  or  20  yards  broad.  Later  the  beavers  made  another  larger  dam  below  this, 
cutting  down  some  more  trees.  One  tree  gave  them  a  great  deal  of  trouble ;  it  was  a  beech,  40 
feet  high,  and  hard  to  gnaw ;  so  they  waited  till  the  water  rose  round  it,  and  then  dug  it  up. 
When  the  large  dam  was  made,  quite  a  considerable  lake  was  formed  below  the  first.  They 
then  neglected  their  first  dam,  and  let  the  water  run  out  of  the  top  lake  into  the  lower  one 
At  the  time  of  writing  there  are  five  old  beavers  and  a  family  of  young  ones  at  Leonardslee. 
The  work  done  by  these  beavers,  so  few  in  numbers,  shows  how  large  colonies  may  alter  the 
course  of  rivers. 


Phttt  kj  W.  P.  Dando 

GAMBIAN    POUCHED   RAT 

Thett  ran  art  obit  to  carry  food  in  their  check-pouches,  which  are  uted  at  pocketi 


156       THE    LIVING   ANIMALS    OF   THE   WORLD 


THE  DORMICE. 

There  are  a  considerable  number  of  animals,  even  here,  which  hibernate.  Most  of  these 
feed  largely  on  insect  food,  which  in  winter  is  unobtainable  in  any  great  quantity.  Conse- 
quently the  hedgehog  and  the  badger,  which  live  largely  on  snails  and  worms,  go  to  sleep  in  the 
famine  months.  So  does  the  sleepiest  of  all — the  DORMOUSE.  This  alone  would  show  that  this 
little  rodent  probably  feeds  on  insects  very  largely,  for  if  it  only  ate  nuts  and  berries  it  could 
easily  store  these,  and  find  a  good  supply  also  in  the  winter  woods.  It  has  been  recently  proved 
that  dormice  are  insectivorous,  and  will  eat  aphides,  weevils,  and  caterpillars.  But  a  dormouse 
hibernates  for  so  long  a  time  that  one  might  imagine  its  vitality  entirely  lost ;  it  sleeps  for  six 
months  at  a  time,  and  becomes  almost  as  cold  as  a  dead  animal,  and  breathes  very  slowly  and 
almost  imperceptibly.  Mr.  Trevor-Battye  says  that  if  warmed  and  made  to  awaken  suddenly  in 

the  winter  it  would  die  in  a  minute  or  two,  its 
heart  beating  very  fast,  "  like  a  clock  running 
down."  Before  their  hibernation  dormice  grow 
very  fat.  There  is  a  large  species,  found  in 
Southern  Europe,  which  the  Romans  used  to 
eat  when  in  this  fat  stage.  In  winter  dormice 
usually  seek  the  nest  of  some  small  bird,  and 
use  it  as  a  sleeping-place.  They  pull  out  and 
renew  the  lining,  or  add  a  roof  themselves.  Into 
the  interior  they  carry  a  fresh  supply  of  moss, 
and  sleep  there  in  great  comfort.  Their  great 
enemy  at  this  time  is  the  weasel.  There  are  two 
main  groups  of  the  dormice,  divided  by  natural- 
ists in  reference  to  the  structure  of  their  stomach. 
The  South  African  GRAPHIURES  have  short  tufted 
tails.  The  hibernating  habit  is  confined  to  the 
more  northern  species. 

THE  MOUSE  TRIBE. 

This  family,  which  includes  the  MICE,  RATS, 
and  VOLES,  contains  more  than  a  third  of  the 
number  of  the  whole  order  of  Rodents.  Some  are 
arboreal,  others  aquatic  ;  but  most  are  ground- 
living  animals  and  burrowers.  The  number  of 
known  species  has  been  estimated  at  330.  Among 
the  most  marked  types  are  the  WATER-MICE  of 
Australia  and  New  Guinea,  and  of  the  island 
of  Luzon  in  the  Philippines.  The  feet  of  the 
Australian  species  are  webbed,  though  those  of 

the  Philippine  form  are  not.  The  GERBILS  form  another  group,  mainly  inhabitants  of  desert 
districts.  They  have  very  large  eyes,  soft  fur,  and  tails  of  various  length  and  form  in  different 
species.  They  have  greatly  developed  hind  legs,  and  leap  like  jerboas,  and  are  found  in  Southern 
Europe,  Asia,  and  Africa.  The  PHILIPPINE  RATS,  large  and  long-haired,  and  the  TREE-MICE  of 
Africa  south  of  the  Sahara,  form  other  groups.  A  very  mischievous  race  of  rodents  is  repre- 
sented in  Europe  by  the  HAMSTERS,  and  in  America  by  a  closely  allied  group,  the  WHITE- 
FOOTED  MICE. 

THE  HAMSTERS. 
The  HAMSTER  is  a  well-known  European  species,  and  represents  the  group  of  pouched  rats. 


Photo  by  A.  S.  Rutland  &  Sons 

POCKET-GOPHER 

The  pocket-gophers  are  almost  entirely  subterranean.  Their 
burrowing  powers  are  remarkable.  The  teeth  as  well  as  claivs 
are  used  to  aid  them  . 


THE    RODENTS,    OR   GNAWING   ANIMALS       157 


Phott  I-  A.  S.  Rudland  »  Son, 

LONG-EARED    JERBOA 

These    curious    little    animals    are    mainly    desert    creatures.      They   move   by 
a  series  of  leaps 


These  creatures  have  cheek-pouches  to 
aid  them  in  carrying  food.  In  addition 
they  are  most  voracious  and  inquisitive, 
so  that  the  hamster  is  a  type  throughout 
Central  Europe  of  selfishness  and  greed. 
We  are  sorry  to  add  that  John  Bui! 
occasionally  appears  in  German  cartoons 
as  the  "  Land-hamster,"  or  land-grabber. 
Hamsters  are  numerous  from  the  Elbe 
to  the  Obi.  They  burrow  and  make 
cellars  in  the  corn-  and  bean-fields,  and 
convey  thither  as  much  as  a  bushel  of 
grain.  As  soon  as  the  young  hamsters 
can  shift  for  themselves,  each  moves  off, 
makes  a  separate  burrow,  and  begins  to 
hoard  beans  and  corn.  As  the  litter 
sometimes  contains  eighteen  young,  the 
mischief  done  by  the  hamster  is  great. 
Its  coloration  is  peculiar.  The  fur,  which 
is  so  thick  as  to  be  used  for  the  linings 
of  coats,  is  a  light  yellowish  brown 
above.  A  yellow  spot  marks  each  cheek.  The  lower  surface  of  the  body,  the  legs,  and  a  band 
on  the  forehead  are  black,  and  the  feet  white.  Thus  the  hamster  reverses  the  usual  natural 
order  of  colour  in  mammals,  which  tends  to  be  dark  on  the  back  and  light  below.  The  animal 
is  10  inches  long,  and  very  courageous.  Hamsters  have  been  known  to  seize  a  horse  by  the 
nose  which  stepped  on  their  burrow,  and  at  all  times  they  are  ready  to  defend  their  home. 
Besides  vegetables  and  corn,  they  destroy  smaller  animals.  They  spend  the  winter  in  a  more 
or  less  torpid  state  in  their  burrows,  but  emerge  early  in  spring.  They  then  make  their  summer 
burrows  and  produce  their  young,  which  in  a  fortnight  after  birth  are  able  to  begin  to  make  a 
burrow  for  themselves. 

Among  the  South  American  members  of  the  group  to  which  the  hamster  belongs  are  the 
FISH-EATING  RATS,  with  webbed  hind  feet.     The  RICE-RAT,  which  is  found  from  the  United  States 
to  Ecuador,  lives  on  the  Texas 
prairies  much  as  do  the  prairie- 
marmots,  though  its  burrows 
are  not  so  extensive,  and  often 
quite    shallow.     In  these  the 
rats  make  beds  of  dry  grass. 

THE  VOLES. 

The  VOLES  are  allied  to 
the  preceding  groups,  but  are 
marked  externally  by  a  shorter 
and  heavier  form  than  the 
typical  rats  and  mice.  Their 
ears  are  shorter,  their  noses 
blunter,  their  eyes  smaller, 
and  the  tail  generally  shorter. 
They  are  found  in  great  num- 
bers at  certain  seasons,  when 


CAPE    JUMPING-HARE 

This  animal  is  very  common  in  South  Africa.      The  Boers  call  it  the  ff  Sfringbaas ' 


158       THE    LIVING    ANIMALS    OF    THE    WORLD 


Phtto  b)  A.  S.  Rudland  &  Sont 

OCTODONT 

The  octodont,  so  called  because  they  ba-ve  four  molar  teeth  on  each  side  of  the  jaw 
are  a  group  of  rodents  found  mainly  in  South  America 


they  often  develop  into  a  pest.  The 
SHORT-TAILED  FIELD-VOLE  is  respon 
sible  for  much  destruction  of  crops  in 
Europe.  One  of  the  latest  plagues  of 
these  animals  took  place  in  the  Low- 
lands of  Scotland,  where  these  voles 
devoured  all  the  higher  pastures  on 
the  hills.  Nearly  at  the  same  time 
a  similar  plague  occurred  in  Turkish 
Epirus.  When  a  special  commis- 
sioner was  sent  to  enquire  into  the 
remedies  (if  any  existed)  there  in 
use,  he  found  that  the  Turks  were 
importing  holy  water  from  Mecca  to 
sprinkle  on  the  fields  affected.  The 
BANK-VOLE  is  a  small  English  species,  replaced  on  the  Continent  by  the  SOUTHERN  FIELD-VOLE. 

The  WATER-RAT  belongs  to  the  vole  group.  It  is  one  of  the  most  commonly  seen  of  all 
American  mammals — probably,  except  the  rabbit,  the  most  familiar.  Although  not  entirely 
nocturnal,  it  prefers  the  darkness  or  twilight ;  but  whenever  the  visitor  to  the  waterside  keeps 
still,  the  water-rats  will  allow  him  to  watch  them.  The  writer  has  had  rather  an  extensive 
acquaintance  with  these  cousins  of  the  beavers,  and,  while  watching  them,  has  never  ceased  to  be 
struck  with  their  close  resemblance  to  those  creatures.  At  Holkham  Lake,  in  Norfolk,  he  no- 
ticed a  willow-bush,  in  which  a  number  of  twigs  had  been  gnawed  off;  and  then  saw  the  missing 
sticks  lying  neatly  peeled,  just  like  "  beaver-wood,"  in  the  water  below.  Waiting  quietly,  he 
noticed  a  water-rat  climb  into  the  bush,  gnaw  off  a  willow  twig,  descend  with  it  to  the  edge  of 
the  water,  and  there,  sitting  on  some  crossed  boughs,  peel  and  eat  the  bark,  just  as  a  beaver  does. 
By  rivers  a  sound  is  often  heard  in  the  round  reeds  as  of  something  tearing  or  biting  them ; 
it  is  made  by  the  water-rats  getting  their  supper.  The  rat  cuts  off  three  or  four  sedges  and 
makes  a  rough  platform.  It  then  cuts  down  a  piece  of  one  of  the  large  round  reeds  full  of  pith, 
and,  holding  it  in  its  hands,  seizes  the  bark  with  its  teeth,  and  shreds  it  up  the  stem,  peeling  it 
from  end  to  end.  This  exposes  the  white  pith,  which  the  rat  then  eats.  Water-rats  have  been 
seen  to  swim  out  and  pick  up  acacia  blossoms  float- 
ing on  the  water.  When  swimming  under  water,  each 
hair  is  tipped  by  a  little  bubble,  which  makes  the  rat 
look  like  quicksilver.  When  it  comes  out,  the  rat 
shakes  itself  with  a  kind  of  shiver,  throwing  all  the 
water  off  its  ccat.  Though  so  good  a  swimmer,  its 
feet  are  not  webbed.  It  is  found  from  Scotland  to 
the  Bering  Sea,  but  not  in  Ireland. 

In  the  Far  North  the  LEMMING  takes  the  place  of 
the  voles.  It  is  a  very  small,  short-tailed  creature,  like 
a  diminutive  prairie-dog.  Like  the  voles,  lemmings 
have  seasons  of  immoderate  increase.  They  then 
migrate  in  enormous  flocks,  and  are  said  never  to 
stop  till  they  reach  the  sea,  into  which  they  plunge. 
It  is  believed  that  they  are  following  an  inherited 
instinct,  and  that  where  there  is  now  sea  there  once 
was  land,  over  which  they  passed  onwards. 

The  MUSK-RAT  inhabits  the  same  waters  as  the 


[North  FinMt) 


Photo  by  L.  Midland,  F.Z.$.\ 

COYPU 

This  is  a  large  aquatic  rodent,  found  on  the   South 
American  rivers.      Its  fur,  called    "nutria,"  forms  a. 


SITncr HUH     rt-vcra.          -i*J     y**' >     •• 

North  America.     It  makes  a  house,  generally      -valuable  export  from  Argentina 


THE    RODENTS,    OR    GNAWING    ANIMALS       159 


Phtto  by  A.  S.  Rutland  &  S,n> 

SHORT-TAILED    HUTIA 

The  butias  are  another  group  of  octodonts,  found  in  the  Wen  India 
Islands 


of  reeds  piled  in  a  mound,  in  the  lakes  and 
swamps.  The  body  is  only  12  inches  long, 
but  the  fur  is  thick  and  close,  and  much  used 
for  lining  coats  and  cloaks.  The  vast  chains  of 
rivers  and  lakes  in  Canada  make  that  country 
the  favourite  home  of  the  musk-rat.  This  crea- 
ture lives  upon  roots  of  aquatic  plants,  fresh- 
water-mussels, and  stems  of  juicy  herbs.  Be- 
sides making  the  domed  houses  of  grass,  reeds, 
and  mud,  it  also  burrows  in  the  banks  of 
streams.  There  it  makes  rather  an  elaborate 
home,  with  numerous  passages  leading  to  the 
water.  The  odour  of  musk  is  very  strong  even 
in  the  skin.  The  tail  is  narrow  and  almost 
naked.  This  species  is  the  largest  of  the  vole 
group. 

THE  TYPICAL  RATS  AND  MICE. 

These  animals  were  originally  an  Old 
World  group.  Though  the  brown  rat  is  now 
common  in  America,  it  is  believed  to  have 
come  originally  from  China. 

A  very  large  number  of  animals  are  now  almost  dependent  on  man  and  his  belongings. 
Such  creatures  are  said  to  be  "  commensalistic,"  or  eaters  at  the  same  table.  They  are  often 
very  unwelcome  guests,  whether  they  are  flies,  sparrows,  or  cockroaches  ;  but  probably  the  least 
welcome  of  all  are  the  rats  and  mice.  The  BROWN  RAT  is  the  best  known  of  any.  It  has  come 
into  worse  repute  than  usual  of  late,  because  it  is  now  certain  that  it  harbours  the  plague-bacillus, 
and  communicates  the  disease  to  man.  Its  habits  and  appearance  need  no  description.  The 
BLACK  RAT  is  the  older  and  smaller  species  indigenous  in  Europe,  which  the  brown  rat  has 
almost  extirpated  from  England.  A  few  old  houses  still  hold  the  black  rat,  and  there  are  always 
a  few  wild  ones  at  the  Zoological  Gardens  which  feed  in  the  animals'  houses.  The  BLACK-AND- 
WHITE  RAT  (not  the  albino  white  rat)  kept  tame  in  this  country  is  probably  a  domesticated  form 
of  the  ALEXANDRINE  RAT  of  Egypt. 

The  HOUSE-MOUSE  is  now  found  in  all  parts 
of  the  world  to  which  Europeans  have  access. 
In  England  its  main  home  is  in  the  corn-ricks. 
Were  the  farmers  to  thresh  the  grain,  as  is  done  in 
the  United  States,  as  soon  as  it  is  cut,  mice  would 
be  far  less  common.  Besides  these  parasitic  mice, 
there  are  a  host  of  field-  and  forest-mice  in  this 
and  other  countries.  One  of  the  best-known  Eng- 
lish species  is  the  HARVEST-MOUSE,  which  makes 
a  globular  nest  of  grass  in  the  wheat-fields,  at- 
tached to  stems  of  corn  or  weeds.  In  this  the 
young  are  born.  In  winter  the  mouse  lives  in 
holes  in  banks,  and  lays  up  a  store  of  kernels 
and  grain.  The  WOOD-MOUSE  is  larger  than  the 
former,  or  than  the  HOUSE-MOUSE.  It  is  yellow- 
ish brown  in  colour,  lays  up  a  great  store  of 
winter  food,  and  is  itself  the  favourite  prey  of  the 
weasel. 


trminion  of  the  Hon.  Walttr  Rcthuhiid,  Tring 

PORCUPINE 


Tht  common  porcupine  it  found  in  North  America,  Italy, 
Spain,  and  North  jifrica 


160       THE    LIVING    ANIMALS    OF    THE    WORLD 


Phtto  by  A.  S.  Rudland  &  Sonl 

PORCUPINE 

This  photograph  shoivs  the  arrangement  of  the  porcupine's  defense  of 
spines ;  but  •when  frightened  it  erects  these,  so  as  to  form  a  complete  protection 
to  the  body 


THE  BANDICOOT. 

A  very  mischievous  class  of  rats  is 
represented  by  the  various  species  of 
BANDICOOT.  They  are  found  throughout 
Southern  Asia  as  far  as  Ceylon,  and  in 
Kashmir  and  Turkestan.  The  BANDI- 
COOT-RAT of  India  is  a  large  and  de- 
structive species  which  is  sometimes 
brought  to  the  London  docks  in  ships, 
but  has  not  spread  into  the  country. 

OTHER  MURINE  RODENTS. 
Among  the  numerous  other  rodents 
allied  to  the  rat  group  are  the  MOLE- 
RATS,  with  short  mole-like  bodies.  The 
largest  is  the  GREAT  MOLE-RAT,  found  in 
Southeastern  Europe,  Southwestern  Asia, 
and  Northeastern  Africa.  It  is  a  sub- 
terranean creature,  burrowing  for  food  like  a  mole.  The  BAMBOO-RATS  have  minute  eyes,  small 
external  ears,  and  a  short  tail  partly  covered  with  hair.  In  Somaliland  a  small,  almost  naked 
SAND-RAT  is  found,  which  burrows  in  the  sand  of  the  desert,  throwing  up  little  heaps  like 
mole-hills. 

THE  GOPHERS. 

In  North  and  Central  America  the  POCKET-GOPHERS  form  a  curious  group  of  small  rodents 
with  cheek-pouches  opening  on  the  outside.  They  spend  their  entire  existence  underground, 
and  are  said  to  use  their  incisor  teeth  as  picks  to  open  the  hard  earth  in  their  tunnels.  They 
push  the  loosened  soil  out  by  pressing  it  with  their  chests  and  fore  feet.  When  a  gopher  has 
eaten  enough  to  satisfy  the  immediate  calls  of  hunger,  it  stores  all  spare  food  away  in  the  large 
cheek-pouches.  When  gophers  desire  to  empty  the  pouches,  they  pass  their  feet  along  their 
cheeks  from  behind,  and  press  the  food  forwards  on  to  the  ground. 

THE  JERBOAS,  SPRINGHAAS,  AND  JUMPING-MICE. 

The   hopping   rodents  have  an  immense  range,  from  Southern  Europe,  through  Africa, 

Arabia,  India,  and  Ceylon,  and  even  in  the  New 
World,  where  the  AMERICAN  JUMPING-MOUSE  is 
found  throughout  the  northern  part  of  the  con- 
tinent. The  latter  is  only  3  inches  long.  The 
true  JERBOAS  are  mainly  found  in  Africa.  All 
these,  when  excited,  move  like  kangaroos.  Their 
main  home  is  the  Central  Asian  steppe  region, 
but  they  are  found  in  Egypt,  India,  Syria,  and 
Arabia.  The  hind  legs  are  much  elongated,  the 
fore  legs  very  small,  and  the  body  usually  of  a 
sandy  colour.  The  American  jumping-mouse, 
though  a  very  small  creature,  can  cover  from  3  to 
5  feet  at  each  leap.  It  inhabits  the  beech  and 
hard-wood  forests.  In  winter  it  makes  a  globular 
nest  about  6  inches  under  the  surface  of  the  ground. 
The  CAPE  JUMPING-HARE  forms  a  family  by 
itself,  with  no  near  allies.  It  is  of  a  tawny  brown 


W.«.  h  IT.  t.  Band,]  [Regent^  Park 

VISCACHA 

The  Viscacba  forms  colonies  like  those  of  the  prairie-dogs.      It  is 
Jound  on  the  pampas  south  of  the  La  Plata 


THE    RODENTS,    OR    GNAWING    ANIMALS       161 


colour,  becoming  almost  pure  white  be- 
low. The  tail  is  long,  and  carried  up- 
right as  the  animal  leaps.  The  head  and 
body  are  nearly  2  feet  long,  and  the  tail 
20  inches.  It  is  found  both  in  the  plains 
and  mountains  of  South  Africa,  where  it 
makes  deep  burrows,  in  which  several 
families  live.  It  is  mainly  nocturnal. 

THE  OCTODONT  FAMILY. 

America  is  the  main  home  of  this 
family  of  rodents,  though  there  are  sev- 
eral representatives  in  Africa.  Their  name 
is  due  to  the  fact  that  they  have  four 
molar  teeth  on  each  side  of  the  jaw.  The 
best-known  species  is  the  COYPU,  or  NU- 
TRIA, of  South  America,  an  aquatic,  fur- 
bearing  animal.  It  is  very  plentiful  in  the 

large  rivers  of  that  continent,  where  its  fur  is  a  valuable  commodity  for  export.  When  swim- 
ming, the  female  coypu  carries  its  young  on  its  back.  The  coypu  is  usually  20  inches  long,  with 
a  tail  two-thirds  of  the  length  of  its  head  and  body.  The  general  colour  is  brown  above  and 
brownish  yellow  below.  Coypus  live  in  pairs  in  holes  in  the  river-banks.  In  the  Chonos 
Archipelago  they  frequent  the  seashore,  and  burrow  near  the  beach. 

The  HUTIA,  another  large  octodont,  is  found  in  the  West  Indies.  There  are  two  species, 
both  partly  arboreal.  The  TUCO-TUCOS,  burrowing  octodonts  of  the  pampas  and  the  far  south  of 
the  American  Continent,  are  rat-like  animals,  with  large  claws  and  very  small  eyes  and  ears. 


Photo  by  If.  P.  Vanda 

CHINCHILLA 

A  small  rodent  of  the  Andes ,  possessing  -very  soft  and  valuable  gray  fur 


THE    PORCUPINES. 

These  animals  are  either  tree-climbers  or  ground-dwellers. 
America,  though  one,  the  CANADIAN  PORCUPINE,  is 
found  in  the  North;  the  latter  are  European  and 
Asiatic.  In  Africa  they  are  also  common.  The 
Canadian  porcupine  passes  nearly  all  its  life  in  trees, 
feeding  on  the  leaves ;  but  it  has  not  a  prehensile 
tail.  The  COMMON  PORCUPINE  is  abundant  in  Italy 
(where  it  is  eaten  by  man),  Greece,  Spain,  and  Africa. 
It  lives  in  burrows  or  among  rocks.  In  India  a  very 
similar  species  is  found.  The  head  and  shoulders  of 
these  ground-porcupines  are  not  protected  by  the 
larger  sharp  spines  which  guard  the  rest  of  their 
bodies. 

The  tree-porcupines  of  the  forests  of  Central 
America  have  long  prehensile  tails,  and  are  very 
lightly  built.  The  quills  are  short,  the  head 
rounded,  and  the  appearance  very  different  from 
that  of  the  European  or  African  species.  The 
common  porcupine  of  Europe  and  North  Africa 
measures  about  28  inches  in  length  from  the  nose  to 
the  root  of  the  tail.  The  head,  neck,  and  shoulders 
are  covered  with  short  spines  and  hairs,  and  the 


The  former  are  found  in  South 


Ph,l,  by  York  Sf  Stn] 


[tftttlng  Hill 


AGUTIS 


The  agutis  are  also  a  South  American  groupt  found  both  in 
the  forests  and  on  the  plains 


162        THE    LIVING   ANIMALS    OF   THE   WORLD 


SPOTTED    CAVY 


Photo  I)  A.  S.  Rudland  »  Sons 

PACA,    OR 

The  facas  are  among  the  larger  rodents,  found  mainly  In  the  northern  part  of 
the  South  American  region 


shoulders  and  back  by  a  crest  of  long 
spines,  varying  from  12  to  15  inches  in 
length.  The  tail  also  carries  spines 

VlSCACHAS   AND    CHINCHILLAS. 

On  the  plains  of  La  Plata  the  com- 
monest large  rodent  is  the  VISCACHA.  It 
assembles  in  societies  like  the  prairie-dogs, 
but  is  a  much  larger  animal,  from  1 8  inches 
to  2  feet  long.  Viscachas  always  set  a 
sentinel  to  give  warning  of  danger.  They 
cut  every  kind  of  vegetable  near  and  drag 
them  to  their  holes  ;  they  also  have  a 
habit  of  picking  up  and  collecting  round 
the  burrows  any  object  which  strikes  them 
as  curious.  Articles  lost  by  travelers,  even 
whips  or  boots,  may  generally  be  found 
there.  The  viscacha  belongs  to  the  chin- 
chilla family,  but  differs  much  from  the 

beautiful  creature  of  the  high  Andes  from  which  chinchilla  fur  is  taken.  The  COMMON  CHIN- 
CHILLA is  about  10  inches  long,  and  the  SHORT-TAILED  CHINCHILLA  rather  smaller.  The  exqui- 
site fur  is  well  known.  Two  other  chinchillas  are  more  like  hares  in  appearance.  All  four 
creatures  are  found  on  the  Andes. 

THE  AGUTIS  AND  PACAS. 

South  America  also  produces  a  family  of  rodents  not  unlike  small  pigs,  but  nearer  to  the 
mouse-deer  in  general  appearance ;  they  are  called  AGUTIS.  Mainly  forest  animals,  but  living 
also  in  the  plains,  they  feed  on  grass,  leaves,  and  plants  of  all  kinds  ;  they  are  very  swift  in  their 
movements,  and  have  much  the  habits  of  the  small  South  African  bucks.  The  fur  is  long,  olive- 
or  chestnut-coloured,  and  thick. 

The  PACAS  are  allied  to  the  agutis,  but  are  stouter ;  they  live  either  in  burrows  made  by 
themselves,  or  in  holes  in  the  banks  of  rivers,  or  in  old  tree-roots.     The  pacas  are  spotted  and 
rather   ornamentally  marked ;   they  are   found   from 
Ecuador  to  Brazil  and  Paraguay. 

THE  CAVIES. 

The  DINOMYS,  a  spotted  rodent  known  by  one 
example  from  Peru,  has  been  thought  to  form  a  link 
between  the  pacas  and  the  cavies,  of  which  the  guinea- 
pig  is  the  most  familiar  and  the  aquatic  capybara  the 
largest.  The  original  of  our  guinea-pig  is  believed 
to  be  the  RESTLESS  CAVY,  a  small  rodent  common  on 
the  plains  of  La  Plata.  It  is  dark  blackish,  with 
yellowish-gray  and  white  hairs  of  the  domesticated 
species ;  and  it  is  suggested  that  the  original  of  the 
present  name  was  "  Guiana  pig."  This  cavy  lives  in 
thickets  rather  than  in  forests  or  plains. 

The  PATAGONIAN  CAVY  is   a  larger  form,  about 

o  ' 

twice  the  size  of  our  hare.  It  burrows  in  the  ground, 
and  has  a  gray  coat,  with  yellowish  markings  on  the 
sides.  It  has  been  acclimatised  successfully  in  France 


Photo  by   York  &  Son] 


[Kotting  Hill 

rnviu    vj     ,..-—--,  irTT-'C 

PACAS,    OR    SPOTTED    CAVIES 

This  photograph,  -which  represents  young  animals,  sk 
great  perfection  the  linear  arrangement  of  the  str.pa 


THE    RODENTS,    OR    GNAWING    ANIMALS       163 


and  England.     The  flesh  is  like  that  of  the 
rabbit. 

The  CAPYBARA  is  the  largest  of  all  rodents. 
This  species  is,  in  fact,  a  gigantic  water  guinea- 
pig.  It  is  found  in  all  the  great  rivers  of  South 
America,  from  the  Orinoco  to  the  La  Plata. 
It  swims  as  well  as  a  water-rat,  though  it  is  as 
large  as  a  small  pig.  It  feeds  on  weeds,  water- 
plants,  and  grass.  A  capital  photograph  of 
this  animal  appears  on  page  146. 

PIKAS,  HARES,  AND  RABBITS. 

The  last  two  families  of  the  Rodents  have 
a  small  pair  of  rudimentary  incisor  teeth  be- 
hind the  large  ones  in  the  upper  jaw.  The 
PIKAS,  or  CALLING-HARES,  resemble  the  mar- 
mot tribe  in  general  appearance.  Their  heads 
are  short,  their  ears  rounded,  and,  being  tail- 
less, they  still  less  resemble  the  common  hare ; 
but  their  dentition  marks  them  as  allied.  One 
species,  about  9  inches  long,  is  found  in  Si- 
beria ;  and  another,  only  7  inches  long,  in 
the  Rocky  Mountains.  The  former  has  a 
habit  of  cutting  grass  and  storing  it  in  small 
stacks  outside  its  hole  for  winter  use ;  the 
Rocky  Mountain  species  carries  its  hay  into 
its  burrows. 
The  HARES  are  a  widely  distributed  group.  They  are  found  from  the  north  of  Scotland 

(where  the  gray  mountain  species  turns  white  in  winter)  to  the  south  of  India,  in  South  Africa,  and 

across  the  continent  of  Asia  to  Japan.    The  MOUNTAIN-HARE  takes  the  place  of  the  brown  species  in 

Scandinavia,  Northern  Russia,  and  Ireland ;  it  is  rather  smaller,  and  has  shorter  ears  and  hind  legs. 
As  early  as   54  B.C.,  Caesar,  in 

his    account   of  Britain,    writes    that 

the  COMMON  HARE  was  kept  by  the 

ancient    Britons    as    a   pet,  but   not 

eaten  by  them.     It  was  protected  by 

the  Normans  in  the  second  list,  or 

schedule,    of    animals     reserved    for 

sport.     The    first    list    included    the 

Beasts    of   the    Forest,    the    second 

the    Beasts   of  the   Chase,   of  which 

the  hare  was  one  of  the  first.     The 

word  "  chase "  has   here  a  technical 

meaning,  by  which  was   understood 

an    open    park,    or    preserved    area, 

midway  in  dignity  between  a  forest 

and  an  enclosed  park.    "  Hare  parks  " 

were  also   made,  perhaps   the   most 

recent  being  that   made  at  Bushey 

for  the  amusement  of  the  sovereign 


Ih.tt  by  Scholastic  Photo.  Co. 

PATAGONIAN    CAVY 

This  large  species   of  cavy   has  been  acclimatised  successfully   both 
England  and  in  France 


Bj  ftrmtisttn  of  Profits 


[Ntw  rtrt 


Bumfu,] 

WOOD-HARE 

Tbit  it  one  of  (be  forms  intermediate  between  the  bares  and  rabbitt 


164       THE   LIVING   ANIMALS    OF    THE    WORLD 

when  at  Hampton  Court  Palace.  The  name  is  often  found  surviving  elsewhere.  Near  one  of 
the  large  country  English  seats  a  walled  park  of  1,500  acres  holds  almost  all  the  hares  on  the 
estate.  If  these  parks  and  forest  laws  had  not  existed  at  an  early  date,  it  is  probable  that  the 
hare  would  have  become  very  scarce  in  this  country. 

Hares  produce  their  leverets  about  the  middle  of  April,  though  in  mild  seasons  they  are  born 
much  earlier.  The  number  of  the  litter  is  from  two  to  five.  They  are  placed  in  a  small  hollow 
scraped  out  by  the  doe  hare,  but  not  in  a  burrow  of  any  kind. 

The  instinct  of  concealment  by  remaining  still  is  very  highly  developed  in  the  hares  and 
rabbits.  They  will  often  "  squat"  on  the  ground  until  picked  up  rather  than  take  to  flight.  This 
seems  almost  a  perverted  instinct  •  yet  hares  often  exhibit  considerable  courage  and  resource 
when  escaping  from  their  enemies.  The  following  is  an  instance : — A  hare  was  coursed  by  two 


"**-v^ 
-     _   «**'•  -  *-,-'? 


Phot!,  by  C.  Reid 


WILD    RABBITS 


young  greyhounds  on  some  marshes  intersected  by  wide  ditches  of  water.  It  first  ran  to  the  side 
of  one  of  these  ditches,  and  doubled  at  right  angles  on  the  brink.  This  caused  the  outer  dog  to 
lose  its  balance  and  to  fall  heavily  into  the  deep  and  cold  water.  The  hare  then  made  straight 
for  the  line  of  walkers,  and  passed  through  them,  with  the  other  greyhound  close  behind  it. 
The  dog  reached  out  and  seized  the  hare  by  the  fur  of  the  back,  throwing  it  down.  The  hare 
escaped,  leaving  a  large  patch  of  fur  in  the  dog's  jaws,  doubled  twice,  and  was  again  seized  by 
the  second  dog,  which  had  come  up.  It  escaped  from  the  jaws  of  the  second  pursuer,  leapt  two 
ditches  1 2  feet  wide,  and  then  sat  for  a  moment  behind  a  gate  on  a  small  bridge.  This  use  of 
the  only  cover  near  caused  the  dogs  to  lose  sight  of  it ;  they  refused  to  jump  the  second  drain, 
and  the  hare  escaped. 

The  RABBIT  is  too  well  known  to  need  description  either  of  its  habits  or  appearance, 
originally  came  from  the  countries  south  of  the  Mediterranean,  but  is  now  common  in  Northern 
Europe,  and  has  become  a  pest  in  Australia  and  New  Zealand.     The  rabbit  breeds  when  six 
months  old,  and  has  several  litters  in  each  year. 


CHAPTER  X. 

THE  BATS  AND  INSECT-EATING  MAMMALS. 

BY  W.  P.  PYCRAFT,  A.L.S.,  F.Z.S. 

THESE  two  groups  are  really  closely  allied ;  but  the  bats  are  generally  considered  apart, 
on  account  of  their  totally  different  mode  of  life.     Originally,  like  their  more  com- 
monplace relatives,  they  were  dwellers  upon  the  earth,  or,  more  correctly,  among  the 
trees.     By  gradual  modification  of  the  fore  limbs,  and  a  corresponding  development  of  folds  of 
skin  attached  thereto,     and  to  the  body,  they  have  acquired  the  power  of  flight.     The  cobego, 
to  be  mentioned  presently,  gives  us  a  hint  of  how  this  may  have  come  about. 

The  bats  are  the  only  members  of  the  Mammalia  which  possess  the  power  of  true  flight. 
The  so-called  flying-squirrels  do  not  rightly  deserve  this  title,  for  they  have  no  wings.  The 
wings  of  the  bat  have  been  formed  by  modification  of  the  fore  limbs,  the  finger-bones  having 
become  excessively  lengthened,  so  as  to  serve  as  a  support  to  a  thin  web  of  skin  extending 
outwards  from  the  body,  much  as  the  ribs  of  an  umbrella  support  the  covering.  The  hand  of 
the  bat  is  therefore  a  quite  unique  organ. 


[Crtjdm 


Phot,  kj  W.  SaviUt-Kint,  F.Z.S.] 

AUSTRALIAN    FRUIT-BAT,    OR    «  FL  YI  N  G-  FOX" 

Tbit  Photograph  shows  the  "jiying-fox  "  '»  its  customary  resting  position.     A  photograph  of  it  flying  is  shown  on  page  v  of  Introduction 

165 


.66 


THE    LIVING    ANIMALS    OF    THE    WORLD 


! 


The  wing-membrane  serves  yet 
another  purpose,  for  its  sense  of  touch 
is  exceedingly  delicate,  enabling  even 
blind  bats  (for  bats  are  not  blind  usually, 
as  is  popularly  supposed)  to  avoid 
objects  placed  in  their  path.  Some 
bats,  however,  appear  to  depend  also  in 
some  slight  degree  upon  hearing.  The 
sense  of  touch  is  still  further  increased 
by  the  development  of  frills  or  leaf-like 
expansions  of  skin  round  the  nose  and 
mouth,  and  by  the  excessive  develop- 
ment of  the  external  ears.  Delicate 
hairs  fringing  these  membranes  proba- 
bly act  like  the  "  whiskers  "  of  the  cat. 
Insect-eating  bats  inhabiting  re- 
gions with  a  temperate  climate  must  in 
winter,  when  food  supplies  cease,  either 
hibernate  or  migrate  to  warmer  re- 
gions. The  majority  hibernate;  but 
two  species  at  least  of  Canadian  bats 
perform  extensive  migrations,  it  is 
supposed  to  escape  the  intense  cold. 

The  power  of  flight  has  made 
the  bats  independent  of  the  barriers 
which  restrict  the  movements  of  ter- 
restrial animals,  and  accordingly  we 
find  them  all  over  the  world,  even 
as  far  north  as  the  Arctic  Circle. 
But  certain  groups  of  bats  have  an 
extremely  restricted  range.  Thus  the 
Fruit-bats  occur  only  in  the  warmer 
regions  of  the  Old  World,  the  Vam- 
pires in  America,  whilst  some  of  the 

more  common  insect  eating  forms  are  found  everywhere.  Those  forms  with  a  restricted 
distribution  are,  it  should  be  noticed,  all  highly  specialised  —  that  is  to  say,  they  have  all  become 
in  some  way  adapted  to  peculiar  local  conditions,  and  cannot  subsist  apart  therefrom.  It  is  the 
more  lowly  —  less  specialised  —  forms  which  have  the  widest  geographical  range.  There  are  some 
spots,  however,  on  the  world's  surface  from  which  no  bat  has  yet  been  recorded  —  such  are  Ice- 
land, St.  Helena,  Kerguelen,  and  the  Galapagos  Islands. 

THE  FRUIT-BATS. 

These  represent  the  giants  of  the 
bat  world,  the  largest  of  them,  the 
KALONG,  or  MALAY  FOX-BAT,  measur- 
ing no  less  than  5  feet  from  tip  to  tip 
of  the  wing.  The  best  known  of  the 

fruif   K-irf-o  <-1          T  T-  <-«• 

the  INDIAN  FOX-BAT.    Sir 

ennent  tells  us  that  a  favourite 
esort     of    theirs     near    Kandy,    in 


[Sydney 


Photo  by  Henry  King] 

AUSTRALIAN    FRUIT-BATS 

In  their  roosttng-places  these  bats  bang  all  over  the  trees  in  enormous  numbers, 
looking    like  great  black  fruits.       Although   shot  in   thousand;,   on  account  of  the 
they  do  to  fruit  orchards,  their  numbers  da   not  appear  to   be  reduced 


Photo  by  A.  S.  Rudland  SfSont 

TUBE-NOSED  FRUIT-BAT 

The  tMar  nostri!s  dhtinguhb  Ah  and  a  sfecies  ofinsecf^g  tofrm  *  •*• 


THE  BATS  AND   INSECT-EATING   MAMMALS    167 


Phttt  hi  Fratiiii  Altnani 

PIPISTRELLE   BAT 

This  is  one  of  the  commonest  tats.      It  is  the  first  to  appear  in  tie  spring,  and  the  last  to  retire  at  the  fall  of  the  year 

Ceylon,  was  some  india-rubber-trees, "  where  they  used  to  assemble  in  such  prodigious  numbers  that 
large  boughs  would  not  infrequently  give  way  beneath  the  accumulated  weight  of  the  flock."  An 
observer  in  Calcutta  relates  that  they  occasionally  travel  in  vast  hordes,  so  great  as  to  darken  the 
sky.  Whether  they  are  performing  some  preconcerted  migration  or  bent  only  on  a  foray  to  some 
distant  feeding-ground  is  a  matter  for  speculation.  These  hordes  are  quite  distinct  from  the  "  long 
strings  "  which  may  be  seen  every  evening  in  Calcutta  on  their  way  to  neighbouring  fruit-trees. 

One  of  the  most  remarkable  of  this  group  is  the  TUBE-NOSED  FRUIT-BAT,  in  which  the 
nostrils  are  prolonged  into  a  pair  of  relatively  long  tubes.  Strangely  enough,  a  group  of  insect- 
eating  bats  has  developed  similar  though  smaller  tubes.  Except  in  these  bats,  such  tubes  are 
unknown  among  mammals.  Their  function  is  not  known. 


INSECT-EATING  BATS. 

The  vast  majority  of  the  bats  comprising  this  group  feed  exclusively  on  insects. 
however,  have  acquired  the  habit  of 
fruit-eating,  like  the  true  fruit-bats  ; 
and  a  few  have  developed  quite  ogre- 
like  habits,  for  they  drink  blood  — 
indeed,  they  subsist  upon  nothing  else. 
This  they  obtain  from  animals  larger 
than  themselves. 

Many  of  the  bats  of  this  group 
have  developed  curious  leaf-like  expan- 
sions of  skin  around  the  nose  and  mouth, 
which  are  supposed  to  be  endowed 
with  a  very  delicate  sense  of  touch. 
In  some,  as  in  the  FLOWER-NOSED  BAT, 
the  nose-leaf  is  excessively  developed, 
forming  a  large  rosette.  The  upper 
border  of  this  rosette  is  furnished  with 
three  stalked  balls,  the  function  of 

.         ,    .  i       LI 

which  it  is  surmised  is  probably  orna- 
mental—  from  the  bat's  point  of  view. 

TO    OUr    more    aesthetic  taste  the  whole 
effect  is  hideOUS. 


Some, 


Phttt  kt  A.  S.  Rutland  V  Son; 

LEAF-NOSEDBAT 

The  /eaf_nouj  are  the  mgtt  h.ghly  organiiej  ofal/  the  ^     Tte 

Uaf-Kke  folds  of  skin  around  the  nose  or  chin,  at  the  case  may  be,  serv< 
organs  of  perception.      There  are  numerous  species  of  leaf-nosed  bats 


remarkable 
•  as  delicate 


168        THE   LIVING   ANIMALS    OF    THE    WORLD 


Limited  as  is  our  space,  we  cannot  pass  over  the  SUCKER-FOOTED  BATS.  These  are  met 
with,  strangely  enough,  in  countries  so  far  apart  as  Brazil  and  Madagascar.  The  suckers  from 
which  they  derive  their  name,  in  the  Brazilian  species,  are  small  circular,  hollow  disks,  attached 
to  the  thumb  and  the  sole  of  the  foot,  recalling  the  suckers  of  the  cuttle-fish  and  brown  water- 
beetle.  By  their  means  the  animal  is  enabled  to  climb  over  smooth  vertical  surfaces. 

A  white  bat  is  a  rarity  in  the  bat  world.  We  cannot  therefore  afford  to  pass  without  mention 
the  fact  that  Central  and  South  America  possess  two  species  of  WHITE  BATS.  This  colour  is 
probably  developed  for  protection's  sake,  the  bats  being  found  nestling  between  the  silvery  leaves 
of  a  cocoanut-palm.  Bril- 
liant coloration,  on  the  other 
hand,  is  by  no  means  so  rare. 
WELWITSCH'S  BAT,  for  in- 
stance— a  West  African  spe- 
cies— is  remarkable  for  its 
gorgeous  coloration,  the  col- 
ours being  orange  and  black. 
An  Indian  species,  known  as 
the  POINTED  BAT,  is  said  to  be 
so  brilliantly  coloured  as  to 
resemble  a  gorgeous  butterfly 
rather  than  a  bat. 

Ugliness  is  more  common 
than  beauty  amongst  the  bats, 
and  perhaps  the  ugliest  of  all 
the  tribe  is  the  NAKED  BAT 
of  the  Malayan  region.  It  is 
absolutely  repulsive.  The  skin 
is  naked,  save  for  a  collar  of 
hair  round  the  neck  ;  whilst 
on  the  throat  it  gives  rise  to 
an  enormous  throat-pouch, 
which  discharges  an  oily  fluid 
of  a  peculiarly  nauseating 
smell.  On  either  side  of  the 
body  is  a  deep  pouch,  in  which 
the  young  are  carried — a  very 
necessary  provision,  for  they 
would  be  quite  unable  to  cling 
to  the  body  of  the  parent,  as  do 
the  young  of  fur-bearing  bats, 
on  account  of  the  naked  skin. 

Of  the  great  group  of  the  VAMPIRE-BATS  we  can  only  make  mention  of  the  blood-sucking  species. 
These  are  natives  of  South  America.  It  is  to  Dr.  Darwin  that  we  owe  our  first  absolutely  reliable 
information  about  these  little  animals.  Before  the  account  in  his  Journal,  it  was  uncertain  to  which 
of  the  vampires  belonged  the  unenviable  distinction  of  being  the  blood-sucker.  During  the  stay 
of  the  great  naturalist  in  Chili  one  was  actually  caught  by  one  of  his  servants,  as  evening  was 
drawing  on,  biting  the  withers  of  a  horse.  In  the  morning  the  spot  where  the  bite  had  been 
inflicted  was  plainly  visible,  from  its  swollen  condition.  These  two  species,  it  has  been  stated, 
"  are  the  only  bats  which  subsist  entirely  on  a  diet  of  blood,  yet  it  is  possible  that  . 
of  the  JAVELIN-BATS  or  their  allies  may  on  occasion  vary  their  ordinary  food  with  it." 


Ptiote  by  W.  Savillt-Kent  ,  F.Z.S.] 

COBEGO 

Back  -view  of  the  cobego,  -with   the  limbs  extended,  showing  the  great  sisse  of  the  fying-mem- 

branes,  or  parachute 


some 


THE    BATS   AND    INSECT-EATING    MAMMALS    169 


THE  INSECTIVORA,  OR  FLIGHTLESS  INSECT-EATERS. 

Some  members  of  this  group  have  departed  from  the  traditional  insect  diet.  Thus  the 
:obego  feeds  upon  leaves,  a  curious  aquatic  shrew — the  Potamogale  of  West  Africa — upon  fish, 
ind  the  moles  upon  worms. 

The  group  has  a  very  wide  geographical  distribution,  but  there  are  nevertheless  large 
Dortions  of  the  globe  in  which  they  are  conspicuous  by  their  absence.  They  are  never  found  in 
Australia  or  South  America.  Madagascar,  Africa,  and  the  West  India  Islands  produce  the  most 

remarkable  forms. 

THE  COBEGO. 
This  is  a  peculiarly  inter- 
esting animal,  which  lives  in 
the  forests  of  Sumatra,  Borneo, 
the  Malay  Peninsula,  and  the 
Philippine  Islands.  It  dwells 
among  the  trees,  moving  from 
one  to  another  by  taking 
flying  leaps  through  the  air, 
covering  as  much  as  seventy 
yards  at  a  jump.  Prodigious 
leaps  like  this  would  be  quite 
impossible  but  for  the  fact  that 
the  animal,  which  is  almost  as 
large  as  a  cat,  is  provided  with 
a  sort  of  parachute,  formed  by 
a  broad  web  of  skin  stretched 
between  the  body  on  either 
side  and  the  fore  and  hind 
limbs,  and  between  the  hind 
limbs  and  the  tail. 

SHREWS,  HEDGEHOGS,  AND 

TENRECS. 

The    variation    in    form 
presented  by  the  members  of 
this    group    is    considerable. 
^      The     most    noteworthy    ex- 

rtydtn 

amples    of  this  variation  are 
Note  the     furnished  by  the  pretty  little 
squirrel-like  TREE-SHREWS  of 
India  and  Borneo  and  neigh- 
During  lands,  the  mouse-like  JUMPING-SHREWS  of  Africa,  the  HEDGEHOGS,  the  TENRECS,  the  ele- 
int  little  MOUSE-LIKE  SHREWS  of  almost  world-wide  distribution,  and  the  WATER-SHREWS.     Of 
ese,  hedgehogs  and  tenrecs  have  undergone  the  greatest  transformation.     By  a  curious  modi- 
;ation  of  their  original  hairy  covering  they  have  developed  a  formidable  armour  of  sharp  spines, 
/hen  alarmed,  the  former  roll  themselves  up  into  a  ball  by  the  contraction  of  powerful  muscles, 
id  so  present  an  almost  impregnable  armour  to  an  enemy.     Stoats  and  foxes,  however,  appear 
least  occasionally  to  succeed  in  overcoming  this  defense  and  making  a  meal  of  the  vanquished. 
Tenrecs  are  found  in  Madagascar.     The  COMMON  TENREC  is  the  largest  of  all  insect-eaters, 


/•*»»•  fy  fr.  Savillt-Ktnt,  F.Z.S.] 

COBEGO 

ertical  (front)    view  of  the  cobego,  -with  newly  born  and  naked  young  attached, 
extension  of  the  membrane  between  the  toes  of  the  fore  feet  of  the  adult 


THE    LIVING    ANIMALS    OF    THE    WORLD 


and  one  of  the  most  prolific,  as  many  as 
twenty-one  having  been  produced  at  birth. 
Of  all  living  mammals  it  is  the  one  most 
nearly  allied  to  the  Marsupials. 

THE  MOLES. 

The  COMMON  MOLE  shows  a  most  perfect 
adaptation  to  its  underground  mode  of  life. 
The  general  form  of  the  animal  is  long, 
cylindrical,  and  pointed  in  front,  whilst  the 
legs  are  exceedingly  short,  the  foot  only  in 
the  fore  limb  projecting  from  the  body.  This 
foot  is  very  broad  and  spade-like  and  im- 
mensely powerful,  its  use  being  to  force  a  way 
— often  with  incredible  speed — through  the 
soft,  yielding  soil,  and  not  to  support  the  body, 
as  in  running  or  walking.  The  hind  feet  are 
weak,  but  resemble  those  of  its  allies  the  shrews, 
for  instance.  The  eyes  have  become  reduced 
to  mere  vestiges,  very  difficult  to  find.  The  fur 
has  become  so  altered  in  structure  that  it  will  lie 
equally  smooth  whether  brushed  towards  head 
or  tail,  so  that  it  should  not  be  damaged  when 
the  animal  travels  backwards  in  its  burrow. 
External  ears  have  been  dispensed  with. 

Worms  form  the  staple  diet  of  the  mole, 
but  besides  underground  insects  of  all  kinds 
are  greedily  devoured.  This  animal  is  one  of 
the  most  voracious  feeders,  falling  ravenously 
upon  its  prey.  It  has  been  said  with  truth  that 

so  great  is  the  ferocity  displayed  by  the  mole  that  if  it  could  be  magnified  to  the  size  of  the  lion  it 

\vould  be  one  of  the  most  terrible  of  living  creatures.     That  a  constant  supply  of  food  is  necessary 

to  satiate  its  enormous  appetite  is  shown 

by  the  fact  that  a  mole  will  succumb  to 

an  abstinence  of  from  ten  to  twelve  hours. 

Moles  fight  among  themselves  furiously ; 

and   .;f  two   are    confined  together,  the 

weaker  will  be  attacked  and  devoured. 

They  take  readily  to  the  water,  and  in- 
stances of  moles  observed  in  the  act  of 

crossing  streams  are  numerous. 

It  is  a  curious  fact,  but  the  mole  is 

unknown  in  Ireland ;  yet  it  ranges  from 

England   in  the  west  through  Asia  to 

Japan. 

Careful    observation  seems  to  have 

shown    that    with    the    common    mole          «•«•  *r  *.  AW/--* 
„.,  THREE   BABY   HEDGEHOGS 

males  are  more  numerous  than  females. 

•,-,.,        ,  Young   hedgehogs   are   bom  blind  and  naked.      The  spines  on  tkar  frtt 

Whether   this   is  true  of   other  species      fffearijare^^.  they  ^  ^d^  and  at  the 
remains  to  be  seen.     The  moles  of  North      nil  the  body  up  into*  bail  i>  acquired 


fiut   kj  fT.  Stvillt-Ktnt,  F.Z.S.]  [Crtfdtn 

COBEGO    ASLEEP 

All  four  limbs  are  Hied  in  suspending  itself -when  asleep,  as  in  tie 
slftbs.  In  this  position  the  cobego  closely  resembles,  and  is  mistaken  by  its 
enemies  ftrt  the  fruits  of  one  of  the  native  trees.  It  is  a  nocturnal 


THE   BATS  AND   INSECT-EATING   MAMMALS    171 


Phttt  t>y  A.  S.  Kmdltnd  Sf  S,mi 

COMMON    MOLE 

Note  that  this  mole  it  changing  its  coat 


tj  ff.  Savtllt-Knt,  F.Z.S.] 

COMMON    MOLE 

The  skeleton  it  here  revealed  by  the  Rtntgen  rays 


. 


America  form  a  group  distinct  from  those  of  the  Old  World,  though  closely  allied  thereto. 
The  WEB-FOOTED  and  the  STAR-NOSED  MOLES  are  the  most  interesting  of  the  American  forms. 

Speaking  of  the  prodigious  speed  with  which  these  animals  burrow  their  way  through  the 
ground,  Dr.  Hart  Merriam  remarks  that  in  a  single  night,  after  rain,  they  have  been  known  to 
make  a  gallery  several  yards  in  length,  and  that  he  had  himself  traced  a  fresh  tunnel  for  nearly  a 
hundred  yards.  As  he  says,  we  can  only  appreciate  the  magnitude  of  this  labour  by  comparison, 
and  "  computation  shows  that,  in  order  to  perform  equivalent  work,  a  man  would  have  to  exca- 
vate in  a  single  night  a  tunnel  thirty-seven  miles  long,  and  of  sufficient  size  to  easily  admit  of  the 
passage  of  his  body." 

The  star-nosed  mole  is  peculiar  in  that  its  nose  is  surrounded  by  a  ring  of  finger-like  proc- 
esses, forming  a  kind  of  rosette,  which  probably  acts  as  a  highly  sensitive  organ  of  touch ; 
furthermore,  it  differs  from  other  moles  in  the  great  length  of  its  tail,  which  is  nearly  as  long  as 
its  body.  Like  the  mole,  this  species  makes  its  way  through  the  ground  with  great  speed. 

Beneficial  as  moles  undoubtedly  are  in  destroying  worms  and  obnoxious  insects,  yet  they 
are  regarded  as  a  pest  both  by  the  farmer  and  gardener.  That  there  is  some  justification  for  this 
dislike  must  be  admitted ;  for  the  farmer  suffers  in  that,  in  the  search  for  food,  crops  are  damaged 
by  cutting  through  the  roots  of  plants — the  gardener  not  only  for  the  same  reason,  but  also 
because  the  ridges  and  hillocks  which  they  make  in  their  course  disfigure  the  paths  and  beds  of 
a  well-kept  garden. 

The  nearest  allies  of  the  moles  are  the  curious  aquatic  DESMANS  of  Russia,  and  the  SHREWS. 


some  of  which  are 
form,  owing  to  their 
similar  mode  of 
The  BURROW- 
the  onlyforms  in  the 
have  assumed  a 
allied  to  the  hedge- 
is  a  remarkable 
the  GOLDEN  MOLE. 
of  the  body  of  this 
instance  of  adapta- 
mode  of  life.  The 
golden  mole  is 
claws,  which  are 
purposes ;  the  hand 
out  spade-like,  as  in 
the  claws  rendering 


Ptutt  h  A.  S.  Kudland  V  Snt 

GOLDEN    MOLE 

Thit  it  found  only  in  South  Africa.  The  name  it  derived  from  the  wonderful 
metallic  lustre  of  the  fur  :  tht  brilliancy  of  the  huet  it  intensified  by  immersion 
in  spirit 


quite  mole-like  in 
having  adopted  a 
life. 

ING  SHREWS  are  not 
great  group  which 
mole-like  shape,  for 
hog-like  TENRECS 
animal  known  as 
The  mole-like  shape 
animal  is  another 
tion  to  a  similar 
fore  limb  of  the 
provided  with  huge 
used  for  digging 
is  not  broadened 
the  common  mole, 
this  unnecessary. 


CHAPTER  XL 

THE  ELEPHANT,  TAPIR,  HYRAX,  AND  RHINOCEROS. 


THE  ELEPHANT. 


A 


BY    F.    C.    SELOUS. 

T  once  the  mightiest  and  most  majestic  of  all  terrestrial 
mammals,   the   elephant  appeals   to   the   imagination 
more  forcibly  than  any  other  living  animal,  not  only 
on    account    of    its    great    sagacity   and   the   strangeness   and 
singularity  of  its  outward  appearance,  but  also  because  it  is  such 
an  obvious  link  between  the  world  of  to-day  and  the  dim  and 
distant  past  of  Pleiocene  and  Miocene  times. 

There  are  two  existing  species  of  elephant,  the  AFRICAN  and 
the  ASIATIC,  the  latter,  from  the  structure  of  its  molar  teeth  and 
the  shape  of  its  skull,  appearing  to  be  very  nearly  related  to  the 
MAMMOTH,  which  lived  upon  the  earth  in  comparatively  recent 
times — geologically  speaking — and  was  undoubtedly  contem- 
porary with  man  in  Europe  during  the  Stone  Age. 

There  are  very  considerable  differences  both  in  the  external 
appearance  and  also  in  the  habits  of  the  two  existing  forms  of 
elephant.  In  the  African  species  the  forehead  is  more  convex 
and  the  eye  relatively  larger  than  in  its  Asiatic  cousin ;  and 
whilst  the  ears  of  the  latter  are  only  of  moderate  size,  those  of 
the  former  are  so  large  that  they  at  once  arrest  the  attention, 
and  are  one  of  that  animal's  most  remarkable  external  character- 
istics. Both  sexes  of  the  African  species,  with  few  exceptions, 
carry  well-developed  tusks,  but  in  the  Asiatic  form  the  tusks  of 
the  females  are  so  small  as  scarcely  to  protrude  beyond  the  jaws. 
In  Asia,  too,  tuskless  bull  elephants  are  common,  whilst  males 
of  the  African  species  without  tusks  are  extremely  rare.  The 
latter  species  has  but  three  nails  on  the  hind  foot,  the  Asiatic 
elephant  four.  In  the  African  species  the  middle  of  the  back  is 
hollowed,  the  shoulder  being  the  highest  point,  whilst  in  the  Asiatic 

elephant  the  back  is  arched,  and  the  top  of  the  shoulder  lower  than  the  highest  part  of  the  back. 
The  extremity  of  the  proboscis  is  also  different  in  the  two  species,  the  African  elephant  being 
furnished  with  two  nearly  equal-sized  prolongations,  the  one  on  the  front,  the  other  on  the  hinder 
margin,  with  which  small  objects  can  be  grasped  as  with  the  finger  and  thumb  of  the  human 
hand,  whilst  in  the  Asiatic  species  the  finger-like  process  on  the  upper  margin  of  the  end  of  the 
trunk  is  considerably  longer  than  that  on  the  under-side.  In  external  appearance  the  skin  of  the 
African  elephant  is  darker  in  colour  and  rougher  in  texture  than  that  of  the  Asiatic  form.  The 
molar  teeth  of  the  former  animal  are,  too,  of  much  coarser  construction,  with  fewer  and  larger 
plates  and  thicker  enamel  than  in  the  latter,  which  would  naturally  lead  one  to  suppose  that  the 

172 


A    FINE   TUSKER 

The  male   Indian  elephant  has  smaller  tusks 
than  the  African  species 


Phot"  *r  Fratill'  Alinart\ 


[Flirinct 


A   YOUNG    INDIAN    ELEPHANT 

W.  animal  ha*  been  trained  to  «  taiut,  »  by  rating  in  trunk  and  foot.      It  hat  lo*  tnc  end  of  it,  tail 

173 


174 


THE    LIVING   ANIMALS    OF   THE   WORLD 


African  elephant  is  accustomed  to  eat  coarser,  harder  food  than  the  Asiatic  species.  This  sup- 
position is  borne  out  by  fact ;  for  whilst  the  Asiatic  elephant  feeds  mainly  upon  grass,  the  leaves 
and  fruit  of  the  wild  plantain,  and  the  young  shoots  of  the  bamboo,  together  with  the  leaves, 
twigs,  and  bark  of  certain  trees,  the  African  species  never  eats  grass,  and,  although  very  fond  of 
certain  kinds  of  soft  and  succulent  food,  such  as  wild  fruits  and  the  inner  bark  of  certain  trees, 
is  constantly  engaged  in  chewing  up  the  roots  and  branches  of  trees  as  thick  as  a  man's  wrist  for 
the  sake  of  the  sap  and  bark,  the  woody  portions  being  rejected  after  having  been  reduced  to 
pulp.  The  Asiatic  elephant  appears  to  be  far  less  tolerant  of  exposure  to  the  heat  of  the  sun 
than  the  African  ;  and  whilst  the  latter  may  often  be  found  standing  at  rest  or  sleeping  through- 
out the  hottest  hours  of  the  day  in  long  grass  or  scrubby  bush  of  a  height  not  sufficient  to  afford 
any  protection  from  the  sun  to  the  whole  of  the  upper  portion  of  the  head  and  body,  the  former, 
when  in  a  wild  state,  is  said  to  always  seek  the  shade  of  the  densest  forests  it  can  find  during  hot 
weather. 

The  Asiatic  elephant  often  lies  down  when  resting  and  sleeping.  This  is  in  marked  contrast 
to  the  African  species,  which,  if  it  ever  does  lie  down  at  all,  except  to  roll  in  mud  or  rub  itself 
against  an  ant-heap,  can  only  do  so  very  rarely,  since  in  all  my  experience,  though  I  have  seen 
some  thousands  of  African  elephants  standing  sleeping  during  the  heat  of  the  day,  I  have  never 
yet  seen  one  of  these  animals  lying  down,  nor  found  the  impress  in  the  ground  where  one  had 
been  so  lying. 

When  excited  and  charging,  both  species  of  elephant  raise  their  heads  and  cock  their  ears, 
which  in  the  African  animal  stand  out  at  such  a  time  like  two  sails,  and,  being  each  upwards  of 
3^  feet  in  breadth,  cover,  together  with  the  animal's  head,  an  expanse  of  fully  10  feet.  The 
Asiatic  elephant  is  said  to  remain  mute  whilst  charging,  and  to  hold  its  trunk  tightly  curled  up 
between  its  tusks.  The  African  elephant,  on  the  other  hand,  usually  accompanies  a  charge  with 
a  constant  succession  of  short,  sharp  trumpeting  screams.  Sometimes,  though  rarely,  however, 
animals  of  this  species  remain  mute  whilst  charging,  but  they  never,  I  believe,  coil  their  trunks 
up  under  their  throats.  Often  an  African  elephant  will  swing  round  for  a  charge  with  a  loud 
scream  and  trunk  held  high  in  the  air ;  but  in  my  experience,  when  settling  down  to  a  chase,  it 
drops  its  trunk  and  holds  it  pointing  straight  down  in  front  of  its  chest. 

In  the  southern  portions  of  the 
African  Continent  the  average  standing 
height  at  the  shoulder  of  full-grown  bull 
elephants  ranges  from  10  feet  to  10  feet  6 
inches,  though  individuals  have  doubtless 
been  met  with  in  those  districts  which 
have  much  exceeded  these  dimensions.  In 
North  Central  Africa  the  average  standing 
height  appears  to  be  some  inches  higher, 
approaching  1 1  feet,  and  in  those  districts 
it  is  quite  possible  that  individuals  exist 
which  exceed  12  feet  in  height.  African 
cow  elephants  stand  from  8  feet  to  8  feet 
6  inches  at  the  shoulder.  The  Asiatic 
species  is  considerably  smaller  than  the 
African,  the  average  height  of  full-grown 
males  not  exceeding  9  feet,  though  certain 
individuals  now  and  then  attain  to  a  much 
greater  size,  as  is  indicated  by  the  fact  ?*.,.  *,  M.  E.  F. 
that  there  is  a  mounted  skelton  of  an  THE  CHIEF  OF  CHIENGMAI' S  CARRIAGE 
Indian  elephant  in  the  Museum  at  Cal-  Tte  vicuna  *>*  A-awnly  a  young  Man  <U?*«* 


ELEPHANT,   TAPIR,   HYRAX,    RHINOCEROS      175 


Phitt  to  M.  E. 


TIMBER-ELEPHANTS 
This  photograph  ivas  taken  at  Lakou,  in  Upper  Siam.      Notice  the  large  teak  log  in  the  foreground 


cutta  which  stands  1 1  feet  3  inches  at  the  shoulder.  In  the  size  of  its  tusks  the  African  ele- 
phant far  surpasses  the  Asiatic  species.  In  India  a  pair  of  tusks  measuring  5  feet  in  length  and 
weighing  70  Ibs.  the  pair  would,  I  think,  be  considered  large,  though  an  elephant  was  killed  by 
Sir  Victor  Brooke  in  the  Garo  Hills  with  a  single  tusk  measuring  8  feet  in  length,  17  inches  in 
circumference,  and  weighing  90  Ibs.,  and  a  few  tusks  even  exceeding  these  dimensions  have  been 
recorded.  In  Southern  Africa  the  tusks  of  full-grown  bull  elephants  usually  weigh  from  80  to 
1 20  Ibs.  the  pair,  and  measure  about  6  feet  in  length,  with  a  circumference  of  from  16  to  18 
inches ;  but  these  weights  and  measurements  have  often  been  much  exceeded,  and  in  my  own 
experience  I  have  known  of  two  pairs  of  elephants'  tusks  having  been  obtained  south  of  the 
Zambesi,  each  of  which  weighed  slightly  over  300  Ibs.,  each  tusk  measuring  upwards  of  9  feet  in 
length,  whilst  a  single  tusk  brought  from  the  neighbourhood  of  Lake  Ngami  in  1873  weighed 
174  Ibs.  The  average  weight  of  cow-elephant  tusks  in  Southern  Africa  is  from  20  to  30  Ibs.  the 
pair,  but  I  have  seen  the  tusk  of  a  cow  elephant  killed  in  Matabililand  which  weighed  39  Ibs.  and 
measured  over  6  feet  in  length,  whilst  its  fellow  almost  equaled  it  in  size  and  weight.  In  North 
Central  Africa,  according  to  Sir  Samuel  Baker,  the  tusks  of  full-grown  elephants  average  about 
140  Ibs.  the  pair,  and  tusks  weighing  upwards  of  100  Ibs.  each  are  not  at  all  uncommon,  whilst 
many  of  a  much  greater  size  have  been  obtained. 

Until  quite  recently  a  tusk  in  the  possession  of  Sir  E.  G.  Loder,  which  weighs  184  Ibs.  and 
measures  9  feet  5  inches  in  length,  with  a  circumference  of  22^  inches,  was  supposed  to  be  the 
largest  in  existence;  but  in  1899  two  tusks  were  obtained  near  Kilimanjaro,  in  East  Central 
Africa,  both  of  which  much  exceed  this  weight.  These  enormous  tusks  were  at  first  stated  to  be 
a  pair  taken  from  a  single  elephant ;  but  though  nearly  equal  in  weight  they  are  said  to  be  differ- 
ently shaped,  and  as  their  history  is  not  yet  fully  known  it  is  possible,  though  not  probable,  that 
they  originally  belonged  to  two  different  elephants.  The  larger  of  these  two  tusks  has  recently 
been  purchased  for  the  collection  of  the  British  Museum  (Natural  History),  where  it  may  now  be 


Photo  b)  M.  E.  F.  Baird,  Esq. 

FEMALE    INDIAN    ELEPHANT    DRAGGING    TEAK 

The  teak  logs  are  floated  down  the  Burmese  rivers  and  dragged  out  by  elephants 


seen.  It  weighs  228  Ibs.,  measures  10  feet  2^  inches  on  the  outside  curve,  and  24*^  in  girth  at 
the  thickest  part.  The  tusks  of  cow  elephants  are  also  considerably  larger  and  heavier  on  the 
average  in  East  Central  and  North  Central  Africa  than  in  the  southern  portions  of  the  continent 

At  the  present  time  the  Asiatic  elephant  is  found  in  a  wild  state  in  most  of  the  forest- 
covered  tracts  of  India,  Ceylon,  Assam,  Burma,  Siam,  Cochin-China,  Sumatra,  and  Borneo ; 
whilst  the  African  species,  although  it  has  been  hunted  out  of  large  tracts  of  country  in  South 
and  Southwestern  Africa,  still  inhabits  the  greater  part  of  the  continent  south  of  the  Sahara,  and 
in  many  districts  of  Central  Africa  appears  to  be  extraordinarily  abundant.  In  the  Cape  Colony 
two  herds  still  exist  under  the  protection  of  the  Government. 

As  might  be  expected  from  the  greater  length  of  its  legs,  and  consequent  longer  stride,  tne 
African  elephant  is  admitted  by  those  who  have  had  experience  of  both  species  to  be  a  more 
active  animal  than  its  Asiatic  cousin.  Speaking  of  the  walking  and  running  powers  of  the  Indian 
elephant,  that  great  authority  Mr.  Sanderson  says  that  "  the  only  pace  of  the  elephant  is  the 
walk,  capable  of  being  increased  to  a  fast  shuffle  of  about  fifteen  miles  an  hour  for  very  short  dis- 
tances. It  can  neither  trot,  canter,  nor  gallop.  It  does  not  move  with  the  legs  on  the  same 
side,  but  nearly  so.  A  very  good  runner  might  keep  out  of  an  elephant's  way  on  a  smooth 
piece  of  turf,  but  on  the  ground  in  which  they  are  generally  met  with  any  attempt  to  escape  by 
flight,  unless  supplemented  by  concealment,  would  be  unavailing."  This  description  exactly 
coincides  with  my  own  experience  of  the  African  elephant,  except  that  I  think  that  animals  of 
the  latter  species,  especially  cows  and  young  bulls,  are  capable  of  getting  up  a  pace  of  at  least 
twenty  miles  an  hour,  and  keeping  it  up  for  from  IOO  to  200  yards,  when  charging. 


ELEPHANT,  TAPIR,    HYRAX,    RHINOCEROS     177 

In  disposition  both  African  and  Asiatic  elephants  are  as  a  rule  timid  animals,  and,  excepting 
in  the  case  of  males  of  the  latter  species  when  suffering  from  sexual  excitement,  are  always 
inclined  to  shun  danger.  I  have  never  heard  of  male  elephants  of  the  African  species  becoming 
savage  and  aggressive  at  any  season  of  the  year ;  indeed,  old  bulls  always  appeared  to  me  to  be 
less  inclined  to  charge  than  cows  or  young  bulls.  The  eyesight  of  the  elephant — of  the  African 
species  at  least — is  bad,  and  his  hearing  not  particularly  acute ;  but  his  olfactory  nerves  are  prob- 
ably more  highly  developed  than  in  any  other  animal,  and,  aided  by  this  exquisite  sense  of  smell, 
he  will  avoid  a  human  being  if  possible.  But  if  elephants  are  attacked  and  wounded,  they 
become  savage  and  dangerous  animals  ;  and  the  charge  of  an  African  elephant,  coming  on  with 
the  great  ears  outspread,  to  the  accompaniment  of  a  quick  succession  of  short,  sharp  trumpeting 
screams,  besides  being  very  sudden  and  rapid,  is  very  disconcerting  to  the  nerves  of  a  man  unac- 
customed to  such  experiences.  I  remember  the  case  of  a  young  Englishman  who  was  killed  in 
Matabililand  many  years  ago  by  the  first  elephant  he  had  ever  seen.  This  animal — an  old  bull 
—had  retired,  after  having  been  wounded,  into  a  small  but  dense  patch  of  thorn-bush,  into  which 
its  pursuer  thought  it  unadvisable  to  follow  on  horseback.  He  therefore  left  his  horse,  and 
advanced  on  foot  towards  the  cluster  of  trees  amongst  which  the  elephant  was  concealed.  The 
latter,  having  either  seen  or  smelt  the  approaching  enemy,  at  once  charged  out,  screaming 
loudly;  and  the  young  hunter,  instead  of  standing  his  ground  and  firing  at  the  advancing 
monster,  lost  his  presence  of  mind,  and,  turning,  ran  for  his  horse ;  but  before  he  reached  it  he 
was  overtaken  and  killed.  It  seemed  to  the  friend  who  found  his  body  (he  was  close  at  hand 
shooting  another  elephant  at  the  time,  and  pieced  the  story  together  from  the  tracks  of  man, 
horse,  and  elephant)  that  the  victim  had  first  been  struck  in  the  back  of  the  head  by  one  of  his 
pursuer's  tusks — at  any  rate  his  skull  had  been  smashed  to  pieces  and  emptied  of  its  brains. 
Then  the  elephant  had  rushed  upon  him  where  he  fell,  and,  after  first  having  driven  a  tusk  right 
through  his  chest  and  deep  into  the  ground,  had  stamped  him  into  a  bloody  pulp  with  his  huge 


Fhttt 


INDIAN    ELEPHANTS    BATHING 

These  animals  love  a  bath,  and  ivill  -walk  on  the  bottom  of  a  deep  river  -with  only  their  trunks  raited  above  the  water 


178        THE    LIVING    ANIMALS    OF    THE    WORLD 

feet.  A  waggon  was  brought  the  same  night,  and  the  mangled  body  carried  to  the  hunter's 
camp  on  the  banks  of  the  Ramokvvebani,  where  it  was  buried. 

The  strength  of  the  elephant  is  proverbial ;  and  in  India  and  Burma,  where  this  animal  has 
for  ages  past  been  trained  in  the  service  of  man,  this  power  is  habitually  made  use  of  in  moving 
and  stacking  large  baulks  of  timber,  or  in  dragging  heavy  guns  through  muddy  ground  or  up 
steep  ascents.  In  Africa  the  traveler  is  often  astonished  at  the  size  of  trees  which  have  been 
uprooted  and  overturned  by  elephants.  These  trees,  however,  have  no  tap-root,  and  have  not 
therefore  a  very  firm  hold  in  the  ground,  especially  during  the  rainy  season,  when  the  ground  is 
soft.  At  this  time  of  year  large  trees  are  butted  down  by  elephants,  which  push  against  their 
stems  with  the  thick  part  of  their  trunks,  and  get  them  on  the  swing,  until  the  roots  become 
loosened  and  the  trees  are  at  last  overturned.  Small  trees  of  2  or  3  inches  in  diameter,  as  well 
as  branches,  they  break  off  with  their  trunks.  In  1878  a  tuskless  bull  elephant — I  met  the  same 

animal  again  in  1885,  and  he  is  the  only  African  bull  elephant  without  tusks  I  have  ever  seen 

killed  a  native  hunter  in  Mashonaland.  This  man,  a  big  powerful  Zulu  and  a  great  friend  of  my 
own,  was  torn  into  three  pieces.  I  imagine  that,  after  having  caught  him,  the  elephant  held  the 
unfortunate  man  down  with  his  foot  or  knee,  and  then,  twisting  his  trunk  round  his  body,  tore 
him  asunder — surely  a  terrible  exhibition  of  strength. 

The  elephant  is  a  very  slow-going  and  long-lived  animal,  not  arriving  at  maturity  until 
upwards  of  thirty  years  of  age ;  and  since  cases  are  on  record  of  elephants  having  lived  for 
upwards  of  130  years  in  captivity  in  India,  it  is  probable  that  in  a  wild  state  these  animals,  both  in 
Asia  and  Africa,  often  attain  to  an  age  of  150  years.  The  female  elephant  produces,  as  a  rule,  but 
one  calf  at  birth,  the  period  of  gestation  lasting  from  eighteen  to  nearly  twenty-two  months. 
The  mammae  of  the  cow  elephant  are  placed  between  the  fore  legs,  and  the  new-born  calf  sucks 
with  its  mouth,  holding  its  trunk  turned  back  over  its  head.  I  have  seen  elephant  calves  so 
engaged. 

Although  there  is  no  reason  to  doubt  that  the  African  elephant  is  as  intelligent  as  the  Asiatic 
species,  its  domestication  has  never  been  attempted  by  the  Negro  or  Bantu  races  of  Africa.  It  is 
believed,  however,  that  the  African  elephant 
was  in  ancient  times  domesticated  by  the 
Carthaginians,  and  used  by  them  in  their  wars 
with  the  Romans.  The  opinion,  too,  is  gen- 
erally held  that  the  elephants  with  which  Han- 
nibal crossed  the  Alps  were  of  the  African  spe- 
cies, as  well  as  those  which,  after  the  conquest 
of  Carthage,  were  used  in  the  Roman  amphi- 
theatres and  military  pageants.  On  the  other 
hand,  it  is  well  to  remember  that  the  late  Mr. 
W.  Cotton  Oswell,  who  had  had  great  ex- 
perience both  with  African  and  Asiatic  ele- 
phants, wrote  as  follows  on  this  subject :  "  I 
believe  some  people  suppose  the  Carthaginians 
tamed  and  used  the  African  elephant  they  could 
hardly  have  had  mahouts  Indian  fashion,  for 
there  is  no  marked  depression  in  the  nape  of 
the  neck  for  a  seat,  and  the  hemming  of  the 
ears  when  erected  would  have  half  smothered 

them.     My  knowledge  does  not  allow  me  to  photo  by  j.  W.  McLean]  [m^ur, 

raise  any  argument  on  this  point ;  but  might  AFRICAN   ELEPHANT 

not  the  same  market  have  been  open  to  the      Tbe  difference  ,„  profiu  benuetn  tbis  and  tbe  Indian  sfecies  is  noticeable. 

dwellers     at     Carthage     as     Was     afterwards     tO  Tbe  forehead  is  receding  and  the  ears  much  larger  in  tbe  African  species 


ELEPHANT,   TAPIR,   HYRAX,    RHINOCEROS      179 


Mithridates,  who,  I  suppose, 
drew  his  supply  from  India? 
I  know  in  the  representations 
of  elephants  on  the  medals  of 
Faustina  and  of  Septimus 
Severus  the  ears  are  African, 
though  the  bodies  and  heads 
are  Indian ;  but  these  were 
struck  nearly  400  years  after 
Carthaginian  times,  when  the 
whole  known  world  had  been 
ransacked  by  the  Romans  for 
beasts  for  their  public  shows ; 
and  I  still  think  it  possible 
that  the  Carthaginians — the 
great  traders  and  colonisers 
of  old — may  have  obtained 
elephants  through  some  of 
their  colonies  from  India." 

An  interesting  example 
of  the  intelligence  of  these 
animals  can  be  seen  any 
day  at  the  public  Zoological 
Gardens.  A  large  African  ele- 
phant restores  to  his  would-be 
entertainers  all  the  biscuits, 
whole  or  broken,  which  strike 
the  bars  and  fall  alike  out 
of  his  reach  and  theirs  in 
the  space  between  the  barrier 
and  his  cage.  He  points  his 
trunk  at  the  biscuits,  and 

blows  them  hard  along  the  floor  to  the  feet  of  the  persons  who  have  thrown  them.    He  clearly  knows 
what  he  is  doing,  because,  if  the  biscuits  do  not  travel  far  enough,  he  gives  them  a  harder  blow. 

TAPIRS  AND  HYRAX. 

BY  VV.  P.  PYCRAFT,  A.L.S.,  F.Z.S. 

TAPIRS  are  odd-looking  creatures,  and,  strange  as  it  may  seem,  are  nevertheless  related  on 
the  one  hand  to  the  rhinoceroses,  and  on  the  other  to  the  horses.  They  are  furthermore 
extremely  interesting  animals,  because  they  have  undergone  less  modification  of  form  than  any 
other  members  of  the  group  to  which  they  belong.  This  we  know  because  fossil  tapirs,  belonging 
to  a  very  remote  period  of  the  world's  history,  are  practically  indistinguishable  from  those  now  living. 

The  general  form  of  the  body  may  perhaps  be  described  as  pig-like ;  the  head,  too,  suggests 
that  animal.  But  the  pig's  snout  is  here  produced  into  a  short  proboscis,  or  trunk.  The  feet  are 
quite  unlike  those  of  the  pig,  and  resemble  those  of  the  rhinoceros.  The  fore  feet  have  each 
four  and  the  hind  feet  three  toes ;  these  are  all  encased  in  large  horse-like  hoofs.  The  tail  is 
reduced  to  a  mere  stump. 

Tapirs  are  shy  and  inoffensive  animals,  living  in  the  seclusion  of  dense  forests  in  the  neigh- 
bourhood of  water,  in  which  element  they  are  quite  at  home ;  indeed,  it  is  said  that  they  will 
frequently  dive  and  walk  along  the  bed  of  the  river.  They  are  also  fond  of  wallowing  in  mud 


ftitto  by  L.  Midland,  F.Z.S.]  [North  Finthit) 

MALE    AFRICAN    ELEPHANT   DRINKING 

Not.  the  great  si-ze  of  the  tusks  and  base  of  the  trunk 


i8o       THE    LIVING    ANIMALS    OF    THE    WORLD 


Photo  b)  Tork  &  Son] 


The  largest  of  all  the  tafirs. 


[Not ting  Hill 

MALAYAN    TAPIR 

Is  easily  distinguished  from  the  American  tapirs  by  the  patch  of 
•white  on  the  middle  of  its  body 


partly,  it  is  believed,  that  they 
may  encase  themselves  with  it 
as  a  protection  against  the  an- 
noyance of  flies.  They  feed 
on  shoots  of  trees,  bushes, 
leaves,  and  fallen  fruits,  forag- 
ing during  the  evening,  and 
possibly  far  into  the  night. 

Tapirs  are  hunted  by  the 
natives  for  the  sake  of  their 
thick  hides,  which  are  cut  into 
thongs  for  reins  and  bridles. 
The  flesh  also  is  esteemed 
by  some.  There  are  three 
methods  of  capture.  In  South 
America  the  lasso  is  used  with 
occasional  success.  But  when 
not  foiled  by  undergrowth, 
the  hunter  often  loses  his 
victim  by  reason  of  the  vio- 
lence and  force  of  its  rush,  which  snaps  the  thong.  The  Gauchos  intercept  it  with  dogs  on  its  way 
to  the  water,  when  it  will  fight  furiously,  and  many  dogs  may  be  killed  before  its  dispatch  is  accom- 
plished. Others  imitate  its  peculiar,  shrill  call,  and  shoot  it  on  its  approach  in  answer  thereto. 
Captives  are  easily  tamed,  and  may  be  seen  walking  about  the  streets  in  many  South  American 
towns.  They  wander  into  the  forest  by  day,  returning  in  the  evening  to  be  fed,  and  are  said  to 
display  great  affection.  On  account  of  their  great  strength,  it  has  been  suggested  that  such  cap- 
tives should  be  used  as  beasts  of  burden. 

Except  the  MALAYAN  TAPIR,  which  is  black  and  white,  tapirs  are  black  or  dark  brown  in 
colour,  and  but  scantily  clothed  with  hair ;  but  the  young,  it  is  interesting  to  note,  are  spotted  and 
striped  with  white  or  fawn-colour  on  a  dark  ground,  a  coloration  recalling  that  of  the  wild  pig. 

There  are  five  different  species  of  tapir.  Their  geographical  distribution  is  remarkable,  four 
species  being  South  American,  and  one  belonging  to  the  Malayan  region.  But  far  back  in  the 
world's  history,  as  we  know  from  fossils,  tapirs  roamed  over  the  warm  and  temperate  regions  of 
Europe,  and  their  remains  have  been  found  in  China  and  the  United  States.  Thus  the  interve- 
ning gaps  existing  to-day  have  been  made  by  the  extinction  of  these  intermediate  species. 

By  nature  the  tapir  appears  to  be  a  harmless  and  inoffensive  animal,  flying  even  before  the 
smallest  dog.  Occasionally,  however,  it  displays  great  courage  and  ferocity,  and  this  appears  to 
be  especially  the  case  with  females  deprived  of  their  young.  At  such  times  they  will  charge  with 
great  spirit,  and  knock  down,  trample  on,  and  bite  their  victim  after  the  fashion  of  wild  swine. 

Man  alone  excepted,  the  most  deadly  foe  of  the  AMERICAN  TAPIR  is  the  jaguar,  as  is  the  tiger  of 
the  Malay  species.  The  American  tapir  often  gets  rid  of  the  jaguar  by  rushing  at  full  speed  into 
the  dense  jungle,  thus  sweeping  its  assailant  from  its  back,  the  jaguar's  claws  finding  but  an 
insecure  hold  on  its  victim's  thick  hide.  Tapirs  are  often  found  bearing  scars  all  over  the  back, 
witnessing  the  terrible  nature  of  the  wounds  received  at  such  times. 

That  the  tapir  is  a  comparatively  unknown  animal  is  partly  accounted  for  by  the  fact  that  it 
is  but  little  sought  after  by  the  big-game  hunter — who  finds  more  excitement  in  pursuit  of  its 
larger  relative  the  rhinoceros — and  partly,  perhaps,  owing  to  its  inhabiting  regions  comparatively 
little  visited  by  Europeans.  Nevertheless,  the  tapir  is  an  animal  of  quite  peculiar  interest,  having 
undergone  but  little  change  during  long  ages,  whilst  its  ally  the  horse  has  effected  in  the  same 
time  a  complete  transformation,  not  only  in  its  general  shape,  but  more  especially  in  its  teeth  and 


ELEPHANT,    TAPIR,     HYRAX,    RHINOCEROS     181 


feet.     The  gradual  steps  by  which  this  transformation  has  been  brought  about   we  can  trace 
through  certain  fossil  forms,  of  which  we  can  say  little  here. 

Amongst  these  fossils  occur  remains  of  an  animal  bearing  a  very  strong  resemblance  to  the 
living  tapir,  but  which,  strangely  enough,  is  not  really  so  closely  related  thereto  as  to  the  horses. 
It  does  not,  however,  stand  in  the  direct  line  of  descent  of  these  latter,  but  must  be  regarded  as 
representing  a  collateral  branch  thereof.  The  occurrence  of  this  distinct  tapir-like  animal  is  of 
great  scientific  interest. 

The  short,  stout  legs  and  spreading  toes  of  the  living  tapirs,  rhinoceroses,  and  ancestral 
horse  are  admirably  adapted  for  plodding  deliberately  over  soft  and  yielding  ground,  such  as  is 
afforded  by  reed-beds  and  banks  of  rivers,  or  the  shady  depths  of  forests.  Speed  in  such 
surroundings  is  not  necessary,  food  in  plenty  being  always  at  hand,  and  escape  from  enemies 
being  sought  by  concealment  in  thick  herbage  rather  than  flight.  With  a  migration  to  drier 
and  higher  plains,  the  spreading  foot  has  undergone  a  change.  The  short  legs  and  numerous 
toes  have  given  place  to  long  ones,  and  of  the  several  toes  growth  has  taken  place  in  one  only  — 
the  third  ;  whilst  the  others  have  slowly  dwindled,  till  eventually  only  traces  of  the  second  and 
fourth  remain,  as  in  the  modern  horse.  Thus  has  a  firmer  support  over  hard,  unyielding  ground 
been  brought  about,  and  great  speed  gained.  The  animals  with  this  type  of  foot  (in  which  the 
third  is  the  largest  toe)  are  known  as  the  Odd-toed  Hoofed  Animals.  The  pigs,  sheep,  deer,  and 
oxen  have  gained  an  equally 
efficient  foot,  yet  retaining  four 
toes.  Of  these,  the  third  and 
fourth  are  equal  in  size,  and 
serve  as  a  support  to  the  body, 
whilst  the  second  and  fifth 
have  now  become  function- 
less,  and  do  not  reach  the 
ground.  This  type  of  foot 
characterises  that  group  of  the 
hoofed  animals  known  as  the 
Even-toed. 


THE  HYRAX. 
This  is  one  of  the  most 
remarkable  of  living  mam- 
mals, and  one  of  the  greatest 
puzzles  to  zoologists,  having  no 
near  living  relatives.  Though 
bearing  some  resemblance  to 
an  earless  rabbit,  it  really 
belongs  to  the  hoofed 
animals,  and  amongst  them 
comes  perhaps  somewhat 
nearer  the  rhinoceros  than 
to  any  other  animal.  It  is 
the  CONEY  of  the  Bible.  It 
inhabits  the  rocky  districts  of 

J  .  , 

Syria  and  parts  of  Africa. 
is  a  vegetable-feeder,  and  very 

Wary.       About  a  dozen  Species 
are  known. 


Ph,t,  t,  G.  If.  tVil,.n  V  Co.,  Ltd.} 

COMMON   AMERICAN   TAPIR 

.     .    .  ,         .      ,    .    , 

This  tapir  inhabiti  tropical  America.  It  is  a  nocturnal  animal,  frequenting  we  depths  of 
^j  forutl  /„  the  neighbourhood  of  -water,  to  which  it  frequently  resortt  for  the  purpose  of 
bathing,  or  as  a  refuge  from  pursuit 


182        THE    LIVING    ANIMALS    OF    THE    WORLD 


Photo  by  W.  P.  Dando 

HAIRY-EARED  SUMATRAN  RHINOCEROS 

This  specie*  if  found  in  Eastern  Bengal  and  in  the  Malay  Peninsula  and 
adjacent  large  islands 


THE  RHINOCEROS. 

BY    F.    C.    SELOUS. 

OF  the  five  existing  species  of  RHINO- 
CEROS, three  are  found  in  Asia,  whilst  two 
are  inhabitants  of  Africa. 

Of  the  three  Asiatic  species,  two,  the 
INDIAN  and  the  JAVAN,  are  one-horned,  and 
have  a  single  pair  of  broad  incisor  teeth  in 
the  upper  jaw,  and  a  pair  of  sharp-edged  and 
pointed  tusks  in  the  lower,  the  nasal  bones 
being  long  and  narrow,  and  terminating  in 
a  point.  In  both  these  species  the  skin  is 
hairless  (except  for  tufts  or  fringes  at  the 
extremity  of  the  tail  and  on  the  edges  of 
the  ears),  and  is  arranged  in  shield-like  folds 
over  the  body.  The  arrangement  of  these 
folds,  however,  differs  somewhat  in  the  two 
species,  and  the  large  round  tubercles  with 
which  the  skin  of  the  great  Indian  rhinoceros 
is  profusely  studded  are  wanting  in  the  Javan 
species. 

The  INDIAN  RHINOCEROS  inhabits  the 
Terai  at  the  foot  of  the  Himalaya  from  Bhutan 
to  Nepal,  and  is  said  to  be  very  abundant  in 
Assam  and  the  Bhutan  Dooars.  It  frequents 

swampy  ground,  and  lives  amongst  jungles  and  dense  growths  of  reeds  and  grass,  which  attain  a  height 
sometimes  of  20  feet,  and  cover  vast  areas  of  ground  in  the  valley  of  the  Brahmaputra  and  other  rivers. 
Owing  to  the  nature  of  the  country  in  which  it  lives,  the  Indian  rhinoceros  cannot  often  be 
hunted  with  much  prospect  of  success,  except  with  the  aid  of  elephants,  which  sagacious  animals 
are  not  only  employed  to  carry  the  hunters,  but  are  also  used  to  beat  the  great  grass  jungles  in 
which  the  rhinoceroses  lie  hidden,  and  drive  them  towards  the  guns. 

Despite  its  great  size  and  strength,  the  Indian  rhinoceros  seems  to  be  regarded  as,  in 
general,  a  timid  and  inoffensive  animal,  and  even  when  wounded  it  seldom  charges  home. 
Elephants,  however,  appear  to  be  as  a  rule  nervous  when  in  the  near  proximity  of  rhinoceroses, 
perhaps  objecting  to  the  smell  of  those  animals.  When  the  Indian  rhinoceros  does  make  good 
its  charge  against  either  man  or  elephant,  it  cuts  and  rips  its  enemy  with  its  teeth,  and  makes 
little  use  of  its  horn  as  an  offensive  weapon. 

The  Indian  rhinoceros  is  said  to  live  principally,  if  not  entirely,  on  grass  and  reeds.  As  a 
rule  it  is  a  solitary  animal,  but  sometimes  several  are  found  living  in  a  comparatively  small  extent 
of  grass-covered  plain. 

Large  males  of  this  species  will  stand  from  5  feet  9  inches  to  6  feet  at  the  shoulder,  and  they 
are  enormously  bulky.  Both  sexes  carry  well-developed  horns,  which,  however,  do  not  usually 
attain  a  length  of  upwards  of  12  inches.  There  is  a  specimen  in  the  British  Museum  measuring 
19  inches,  and  it  is  believed  that  in  very  exceptional  instances  a  length  of  2  feet  has  been  attained. 
The  JAVAN  RHINOCEROS,  though  it  has  been  called  the  Lesser  Indian  Rhinoceros,  is  said  by 
a  late  authority — Mr.  C.  E.  M.  Russell — to  stand  about  the  same  height  at  the  shoulder  as  the 
Indian  species.  It  is  found  in  the  Sunderbunds  of  Eastern  Bengal,  and  has  been  met  with  in  the 
Sikhim  Terai  and  in  Assam,  ranging  eastwards  through  Burma  and  the  Malay  Peninsula  to 
Sumatra,  Java,  and  Borneo. 


TJ, 


Photo  *r  J.  W.  McLillan] 


GREAT     INDIAN      RHINOCEROS 

The  largest  land  mammal  of  the  Eatt  after  the  elephant 
183 


THE    LIVING    ANIMALS    OF    THE    WORLD 


But  little  appears  to  be  known  of  the  habits  of  this  species  of  rhinoceros.  Although  it  is 
found  in  the  swampy  grass-covered  plains  of  the  Sunderbunds,  its  more  usual  habitat  seems  to  be 
hilly  forest-covered  country,  and  both  in  Burma  and  Java  it  ascends  to  a  height  of  several 
thousand  feet  above  sea-level.  It  feeds  principally  upon  leaves  and  the  young  shoots  of  trees 
and  bushes.  In  disposition  it  is  timid  and  inoffensive.  Only  the  male  carries  a  horn,  which, 
being  very  short,  is  a  very  poor  trophy  for  a  sportsman. 

The  third  Asiatic  species  of  rhinoceros,  known  as  the  SUMATRAN,  is  the  smallest  of  all  living 
rhinoceroses.  This  species  carries  two  horns,  and  its  skin,  which  is  very  rough,  is  usually  thinly 
covered  with  hair  of  a  dark  brown  colour  and  of  considerable  length.  The  folds  in  the  skin  of 
the  Sumatran  rhinoceros  are  not  nearly  so  well  developed  as  in  its  single-horned  relatives,  and 
the  one  behind  the  shoulders  is  alone  continued  over  the  back.  Although  furnished  with  tusks 
in  the  lower  jaw,  the  small  pair  of  incisor  teeth,  which  in  the  other  two  Asiatic  rhinoceroses  are 
always  present  in  front  of  these  tusks,  are  wanting  in  the  Sumatran  species. 

The  Sumatran  rhinoceros  is  rare  in  Assam,  but  is  found  in  Burma  and  the  Malay  Peninsula, 
as  well  as  in  Siam,  Sumatra,  and  Borneo.  The  two  horns  of  this  species  are  placed  at  some 

distance  apart.  Although  they  are  as 
a  rule  very  short,  the  front  horn  oc- 
casionally grows  to  a  considerable 
length,  sweeping  backwards  in  a  grace- 
ful curve. 

In  height  adult  males  of  the  Su- 
matran species  stand  on  the  average 
from  4  feet  to  4^  feet  at  the  shoulder, 
and  females  sometimes  not  more  than 
3  feet  8  inches. 

Like  the  Javan  rhinoceros,  the 
Sumatran  species  is  by  preference  an 
inhabitant  ot  hilly,  forest-covered 
country,  and  browses  on  the  leaves 
and  shoots  of  trees  and  bushes.  It  is 
a  timid  and  inoffensive  animal,  soon 
becoming  tame  in  captivity.  Its  flesh 
is  said  to  be  much  appreciated  by  the 
Dyaks  of  Borneo ;  and  as  its  horns  are 

of  value  for  export  to  China,  where  they  are  used  for  medicinal  purposes,  it  has  of  late  years 
very  much  decreased  in  numbers  in  the  province  of  Sarawak,  but  is  more  plentiful  in  Central  and 
North  Borneo.  Living  as  it  does  in  dense  jungle,  it  is  an  animal  which  is  seldom  seen  by 
European  sportsmen,  and  its  habits  in  a  wild  state  have  never  been  yet  very  closely  studied. 

Turning  to  the  two  species  of  rhinoceros  which  inhabit  the  continent  of  Africa,  both  are 
double-horned,  and  neither  furnished  with  incisor  teeth,  the  nasal  bones  being  thick,  rounded, 
and  truncated  in  front.  Both,  too,  are  smooth-skinned  and  entirely  hairless,  except  on  the  edge 
of  the  ears  and  extremity  of  the  tail,  which  are  fringed  or  tufted. 

f  the  two  African  species,  the  WHITE  or  SQUARE-MOUTHED  RHINOCEROS  is  the  larger  and 

the  rarer.     Until  quite  recently  the  range  of  this  huge  ungainly-looking  animal,  the  biggest  of 

terrestrial  mammals  after  the  elephant,  was  supposed  to  be  entirely  confined  to  the  southern 

portions  of  the  African  Continent ;  for  although  from  time  to  time  horns  had  found  their  way  to 

Zanzibar  which  seemed  referable  to  the  square-mouthed  rhinoceros,  the  fact  of  the  existence  of 

the  white  rhinoceros  in  any  part  of  Africa  north  of  the  Zambesi  remained  in  doubt  until  a  female 

^shot  in  the  year  1900,  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Lado,  on  the  Upper  Nile,  by  Captain  A.  St. 

Gibbons,  who  brought  its  skin,  skull,  and  horns  to  England.     The  fact,  however,  that  the 


Photo  b}  York  &  Sen]  [Netting  Hill 

GREAT    INDIAN    RHINOCEROS 

This  sfecies  inhabits   the  grass  jungles   of  Northeastern   India 


ELEPHANT,  TAPIR,    HYRAX,    RHINOCEROS      185 


Phitt  b)  C.  B.  Hamburg.  £14. 

BLACK    AFRICAN    RHINOCEROSES 

A  if  Undid  snapshot  of  nvo  black  African  rhinoceroses  taken  on  the  open  veldt.      They  "were  afterwards  shot  by  the  party 

white  rhinoceros  has  never  been  encountered  by  any  other  traveler  in  Central  Africa  seems  to 
show  that  the  animal  is  either  very  rare  in  those  districts,  or  that  it  has  an  exceedingly  limited  range. 

In  the  early  years  of  the  nineteenth  century  the  square-mouthed  or  white  rhinoceros  was 
found  in  large  numbers  over  the  whole  of  South  Africa  from  the  Orange  River  to  the  Zambesi, 
except  in  the  waterless  portions  of  the  Kalahari  Desert,  or  those  parts  of  the  country  which  are 
covered  with  rugged  stony  hills  or  dense  jungle. 

Speaking  of  his  journey  in  1837  through  the  western  part  of  what  is  now  the  Transvaal 
Colony,  Captain  (afterwards  Sir)  Cornwallis  Harris  wrote :  "  On  our  way  from  the  waggons  to  a 
hill  not  half  a  mile  distant,  we  counted  no  less  than  twenty-two  of  the  white  species  of  rhinoceros, 
and  were  compelled  in  self-defense  to  slaughter  four.  On  one  occasion  I  was  besieged  in  a  bush 
by  three  at  once,  and  had  no  little  difficulty  in  beating  off  the  assailants."  Even  so  lately  as 
thirty  years  ago  the  white  rhinoceros  was  still  to  be  met  with  in  fair  numbers  in  Ovampoland  and 
other  districts  of  Western  South  Africa,  whilst 
it  was  quite  plentiful  in  all  the  uninhabited 
parts  of  Eastern  South  Africa  from  Zululand 
to  the  Zambesi.  In  1872  and  1873,  whilst 
elephant-hunting  in  the  uninhabited  parts  of 
Matabililand,  I  encountered  white  rhinoceroses 
almost  daily,  and  often  saw  several  in  one  day. 
At  the  present  time,  however,  unless  it  should 
prove  to  be  numerous  in  some  as  yet  unex- 
plored districts  of  North  Central  Africa,  this 
strange  and  interesting  animal  must  be  counted 
one  of  the  rarest  of  existing  mammals,  and  in 
Southern  Africa  I  fear  it  must  soon  become 
extinct.  A  few  still  exist  amongst  the  wild 
loquat  groves  of  Northern  Mashonaland,  and 
there  are  also  a  few  surviving  in  Zululand  ;  but 


Phttt  ky  C.  B.  Hamburg,  Elf. 

ONE  OF  THE  SAME  RHINOCEROSES  DEAD 


I  fear  that  even  with  the  most  rigid  protection        This  picture  gives  tome  idea  of  the  size  of  the  commonest  surviving  sptciet 


i86       THE    LIVING    ANIMALS    OF    THE    WORLD 


Phtti  b}  J,  W.  McLellan]  [Hlghburj 

RHINOCEROS    BATHING 

All  the  Asiatic  species  of  rhinoceros  are  fond  of  bathing  and  •wallowing  in  mud 


they  are  too  few  in  number  to  restock 
the  country.  They  have  a  better 
chance,  I  think,  of  increasing  in  num- 
bers in  Zululand  than  in  Mashonaland, 
in  which  latter  country  it  is  at  present 
impossible  to  afford  them  any  protec- 
tion either  from  natives  or  Europeans. 
A  full-grown  bull  white  rhinoceros 
stands  from  6  feet  6  inches  to  6  feet 
9  inches  at  the  shoulder,  and  is  very 
massively  built,  with  short,  stout  legs. 
The  head  is  very  much  elongated, 
and  the  mouth  square,  like  that  of 
an  ox.  When  white  rhinoceroses 
were  still  plentiful,  very  considerable 
differences  were  observable  in  the 
length  and  shape  of  their  horns.  The 
anterior  horns  of  full-grown  bulls 

might  measure  from  18  inches  to  40  inches  in  length  ;  those  of  cows  from  24  inches  to  60  inches. 
The  longest  horn  known — that  of  a  cow — which  was  brought  from  South  Africa  by  the  well- 
known  hunter  the  late  Roualeyn  Gordon  Gumming,  measures  62^  inches  over  the  curve.  As 
a  rule,  the  front  horn  of  the  white  rhinoceros  curved  slightly  backwards,  but  was  often  straight 
or  bent  slightly  forwards,  and  sometimes  curved  strongly  backwards.  The  posterior  horn  varied 
from  a  few  inches  to  2  feet  in  length. 

The  white  rhinoceros  lived  in  families,  usually  a  bull,  cow,  and  calf  being  found  together; 
but  there  might  be  two  or  even  three  calves  of  different  ages,  and  of  which  the  youngest  alone 
would  be  suckling,  living  with  the  father  and  mother.  In  the  early  South  African  spring  (Sep- 
tember and  October),  when  the  young  green  herbage  was  just  sprouting  after  the  first  rains,  two 
or  three  families  of  white  rhinoceroses  might  be  seen  feeding  in  close  proximity,  presenting  the 
appearance  of  a  herd ;  but  I  fancy  the  several  families  of  these  animals  had  only  been  brought 
together  for  the  sake  of  the  young  green  grass.  In  Southern  Africa  the  white  rhinoceros  lived 
entirely  on  grass,  and  I  have  never  seen  any  evidence  of  their  having  eaten  anything  else. 
When  either  walking,  trotting,  or  galloping,  the  white  rhinoceros  always  carried  its  nose  close  to 
the  ground.  A  calf  always  preceded  its  mother,  and  she  appeared  to  guide  it  by  holding  the 
point  of  her  horn  on  the  little  creature's  rump ;  and  in  all  changes  of  pace,  no  matter  how 
sudden,  this  position  was  always  maintained.  The  white  rhinoceros  was  easily  killed  by  a  shot 
through  the  heart  or  through  both  lungs,  but  would  travel  very  long  distances,  and  probably,  as 
a  rule,  ultimately  recover  from  wounds  in  other  parts  of  the  body.  They  could  travel  at  a  great 
rate  and  for  a  considerable  distance  with  a  broken  fore  leg  or  shoulder,  but  if  a  hind  leg  were 
broken  they  were  rendered  almost  immediately  helpless.  In  disposition  they  were  sluggish  and 
inoffensive  animals,  lying  asleep  in  the  shade  of  trees  or  bushes  during  the  heat  of  the  day,  and 
coming  to  the  water  to  drink  at  night  or  often  before  sundown  in  parts  of  the  country  where 
they  had  not  been  much  molested.  When  disturbed,  white  rhinoceroses  would  go  off  at  a  swift 
trot,  but  if  chased  on  horseback  would  break  into  a  gallop,  which  they  were  capable  of  maintain- 
ing for  a  considerable  distance,  and  at  a  wonderful  pace  for  so  large  and  heavy  an  animal, 
meat  of  the  white  rhinoceros  was  most  excellent,  the  part  in  greatest  favour  amongst  hunters 
being  the  hump  on  the  back  of  the  neck  in  front  of  the  shoulder,  which  was  cut  off  whole  and 
roasted  in  the  skin  in  a  hole  dug  in  the  ground. 

The  colour  of  the  so-called  white  rhinoceros  is  dark  gray.     The  second  species  of  African  rhi- 
noceros, which  is  also  dark  gray  in  colour,  is  known  as  the  BLACK  or  PREHENSILE-LIPPED  RHINOCEROS. 


ELEPHANT,   TAPIR,   HYRAX,    RHINOCEROS      187 


Less  than  a  hundred  years  ago  the  range  of  this  fast-disappearing  species  extended  from  the 
northwestern  districts  of  the  Cape  Colony  to  Abyssinia,  and  at  that  time  it  must  have  been  plentiful 
over  almost  the  whole  of  the  intervening  country.  It  never  seems  to  have  penetrated  into  the  equa- 
torial forest  regions  of  West  Central  Africa,  where  the  climate  is  probably  too  damp  to  suit  its  require- 
ments ;  for  both  species  of  African  rhinoceros  appear  to  like  a  dry  climate, and  not  to  object  to  very 
arid  surroundings.  At  the  same  time  they  never  wander  many  miles  from  a  river  or  pool,  and  drink 
regularly  every  night,  and  in  hot  weather  probably  very  often  a  second  time  in  the  early  morning. 
In  Southern  Africa  the  black  rhinoceros  appears  to  attain  to  a  larger  size  than  in  the  coun- 
tries farther  north.  To  the  south  of  the  Zambesi  large  bulls  of  this  species  will  stand  5  feet  8 
inches  at  the  shoulder ;  whilst  the  height  of  an  adult  bull,  as  taken  by  Mr.  F.  Jackson  at 
Naivasha.  in  East  Africa,  was  5  feet  5  inches  ;  and  Mr.  A.  H.  Neumann  gives  the  standing  height  of 
another  adult  bull  shot  by  himself  still  farther  north,  near  Lake  Rudolph,  as  only  4  feet  9  inches. 

It  is  now  gener- 
ally recognised  that 
there  is  but  one  species 
of  prehensile-lipped 
rhinoceros  in  Africa, 
though  the  horns,  and 
especially  the  hinder 
one,  differ  in  length 
and  shape  to  such  an 
extent  that  it  was  long  id*»^^ 
thought  that  there 
were  at  least  two 
distinct  species,  those 
with  both  horns  of 
equal  or  nearly  equal 
length  having  been 
distinguished  from  the 
more  common  form, 
with  a  comparatively 
short  second  horn,  as 
the  KEITLOA,  this 
being  the  name  in 
the  Sechuana  dialect 
for  a  prehensile-lipped 

rhinoceros  with  horns  of  equal  length.  Speaking  on  this  subject,  Mr.  A.  H.  Neumann,  who  has  had 
great  experience  with  the  black  rhinoceros  in  East  Africa,  writes :  •'  Length  of  horn  is  a  purely 
fortuitous  individual  trait ;  and  the  extremely  long  horns  (mostly  of  females)  which  have  occasionally 
been  obtained  from  traders  on  the  east  coast,  and  brought  home,  are  merely  exceptionally  fine 
specimens,  selected  from  among  large  numbers  brought  to  the  coast  (the  bulk  of  which,  I  am  told, 
go  to  China  to  be  ground  up  into  medicine),  and  do  not  belong  to  any  distinct  species,  nor  come 
from  any  particular  region.  In  proof  of  this  contention  I  may  mention  that  I  have  a  4O-inch  horn, 
the  owner  of  which  I  myself  shot  at  the  northern  base  of  the  Jambeni  Range  (near  Kenia),  in  a 
neighbourhood  where  I  hunted  a  great  deal  and  saw  great  numbers  of  rhinos,  and  shot  a  good 
many.  The  vast  majority  have  quite  short  horns — under  a  foot — and  anything  over  18  inches 
is  uncommon,  while  a  length  of  30  inches  or  upwards  is  extremely  rare."  The  black  rhinoceros, 
I  believe,  never  eats  grass,  but  browses  on  the  young  shoots  of  trees  and  bushes,  which  are  often 
quite  leafless  and  seem  excessively  dry.  In  this  way  it  chews  up  and  swallows  great  quantities 
of  dry-looking  twigs,  much  of  which  passes  through  its  stomach  undigested. 


Phttt  by  Norman  B.  Smith,  Elf. 

BLACK   AFRICAN    RHINOCEROS 

This  photograph,  taken  by  a  sportsman  in  Africa,  shows  a  charging  rhinoceros  just  before  it  -was  that 


188       THE    LIVING    ANIMALS    OF    THE    WORLD 


There  has  been  a  good  deal  of 
controversy  as  to  the  character  and 
disposition  of  the  black  rhinoceros,  some 
hunters  and  travelers  regarding  it  as 
most  dangerous  and  aggressive,  whilst 
others  are  inclined  to  take  an  almost 
opposite  view.  That  some  black 
rhinoceroses  are  certainly  aggressive  and 
therefore  dangerous  animals,  the  experi- 
ences of  C.  J.  Anderson  and  W.  Cotton 
Oswell  in  South  Africa  many  years  ago, 
and  of  many  travelers  and  hunters  in 
East  Africa  during  the  last  few  years, 
certainly  prove  beyond  a  doubt ;  and  as 
one  never  knows  that  any  particular 
rhinoceros,  when  encountered,  may  not 
prove  to  be  a  vicious  brute,  a  certain 
amount  of  caution  should  be  employed 
in  approaching  one  of  these  animals. 
In  my  own  experience  I  always  found 
that  black  rhinoceroses  ran  off  at  once 
on  getting  the  wind  of  a  human  being ; 
whilst,  on  the  other  hand,  if  they  only 
heard  one  approaching,  they  would  come 
towards  the  noise,  and  I  have  often 
known  them  to  trot  up  to  within 
twenty  yards  of  where  I  was  standing, 

snorting  and  puffing  loudly;  but  as  these  animals  always  turned  round  and  went  off  eventually 
without  charging,  I  came  to  the  conclusion  that  they  were  inquisitive  and  very  short-sighted 
rather  than  vicious.  When  fired  into,  a  black  rhinoceros  goes  off  at  a  gallop — his  usual  pace, 
when  alarmed,  being  a  very  fast  trot — puffing  and  snorting  loudly.  He  can  gallop  at  a  very 
great  pace,  considering  his  size  and  weight ;  but  a  South  African  shooting-pony  can  easily  come 
up  with  him,  or  get  away  from  him  if  pursued.  In  death  a  black  rhinoceros  will  often  sink  down 
on  its  knees,  and  remain  in  that  position,  looking  as  if  it  were  simply  resting.  When  dying,  it 
often  gives  vent  to  a  pitiful  squeal,  the  sound  seeming  very  small  and  thin  for  so  large  a  beast. 
The  meat  of  the  black  rhinoceros  is  not  ill-flavoured,  and,  if  fat,  very  palatable ;  but  as  a  rule 
these  animals  are  very  lean,  and  their  flesh  tough  and  coarse.  The  tongue,  however,  if  well 
cooked,  is  always  good  ;  and  the  liver  if  first  roasted  under  the  ashes,  and  then,  after  being  beaten 
up  in  a  native  wooden  mortar,  cooked  with  rice  and  fat,  makes  a  dish  which  is  good  enough  for 
a  hungry  man. 

During  the  making  of  the  Uganda  Railway  the  engineers  came  upon  something  like  a  pre- 
serve of  this  species  of  rhinoceros,  especially  in  the  thick  and  waterless  thorn  jungle  near  the 
coast.  The  rhinoceros  was  almost  the  only  animal,  except  the  lion,  which  was  able  to  penetrate 
the  bush.  As  many  as  five  of  these  animals  were  seen  in  one  day  when  the  line  was  being 
made ;  they  did  no  injury  to  the  coolies,  other  than  by  frightening  them,  and  appeared  to  be 
stupid  and  by  no  means  vigilant  animals,  perhaps  because  no  other  creature  attacked  them.  The 
lion  never  meddles  with  a  grown-up  rhinoceros,  though  it  might  and  probably  does  kill  a  calf 
occasionally,  when  the  latter  is  no  larger  than  a  full-grown  pig.  The  horns  of  some  of  these 
East  African  black  rhinoceroses  were  of  unusual  length  and  thinness. 


Photo  by  York  &  Son]  [Netting  Hill 

SUMATRAN    RHINOCEROS 

This  species  of  rhinoceros  is  the  smallest  of  the  three  Oriental  forms.      It  has 
two  horns 


CHAPTER  XII. 

THE   HORSE    TRIBE. 


ZEBRAS   AND   WILD   ASSES. 

BY   F.  C.  SELOUS. 


1 


ZEBRAS. 

THE  ZEBRAS  have  many  points  in  common  with  the  asses,  from  which  latter  group  of 
animals  they  are  principally  distinguished  by  their  beautifully  striped  skins.  Both 
asses  and  zebras  carry 
short,  erect  manes,  and  in  both  the 
upper  portion  of  the  tail  is  free  from 
long  hair.  In  both  groups  there  are 
naked  callosities  on  the  fore  legs  only, 
whilst  the  head  is  larger  in  propor- 
tion to  the  size  of  the  animal,  and 
the  ears  longer  than  in  the  horse.  In 
BURCHELL'S  and  GREVY'S  ZEBRAS  the 
hoof  is  intermediate  between  that  of 
the  horse  and  the  ass  ;  for  altho.ugh 
narrower  than  the  hoof  of  the  horse,  it 
is  broader  and  more  rounded  than  that 
of  the  ass.  In  the  TRUE  ZEBRA,  how- 
ever, the  hoof  is  thoroughly  asinine 
in  character,  and  the  ears  very  long. 
The  TRUE  or  MOUNTAIN  ZEBRA 
appears  never  to  have  had  a  very 
extended  range.  It  was  once  an 
inhabitant  of  all  the  mountainous 
regions  of  the  Cape  Colony  as  well 
as  of  the  great  Drakensberg  Range, 
and  fifty  years  ago  was  also  found 
amongst  the  rugged  hills  of  Great 
Namaqualand.  The  mountain-zebra 
is  the  smallest  of  the  group,  standing 
only  from  12  to  12^  hands  at  the 
shoulder.  It  is  a  most  beautiful 
animal,  the  whole  of  the  head,  body, 
and  limbs,  with  the  exception  of  the 
under-parts  and  the  insides  of  the  MOUNTAIN-ZEBRA 

The  true  or  mountain  zebra  is  now  becoming  scarcer  than  formerly.      At  one  time  it 
•was  to  be  seen  in  great  numbers  on  tbe  mountains  of  Cape  Colony 
189 


ptut,  bf  G. 


thighs,  being  striped.     The  ground- 
colour of  the  body  is  white,  the  stripes 


190       THE    LIVING   ANIMALS    OF    THE    WORLD 


fhutt  by  W.  P.  Dand 


GREVY'S    ZEBRA 


This  speries  of  zebra  come  from  the  Gal/a  country,  and  has  narrower  and  more  numerous  strifes 
than  the  mountain-zebra 


being  black  and  the  muzzle 
bright  brown.  Both  hind  and 
fore  legs  are  banded  down  to 
the  hoofs.  The  stripes  on  the 
neck  and  body  are  narrower 
and  more  numerous  than  in 
Burchell's  zebra,  and  on  the 
hindquarters  the  median 
stripe,  which  runs  down  the 
centre  of  the  back  from  the 
mane  to  the  tail,  is  connected 
with  the  uppermost  of  the 
oblique  longitudinal  stripes  by 
a  series  of  short  horizontal 
bars.  The  ears  in  this  species 
are  much  larger  than  in 
Burchell's  zebra. 

The  true  zebra  seems 
never  to  have  been  an  in- 
habitant of  the  plains,  like 


all  its  congeners,  but  to  have 

confined  its  range  entirely  to  mountainous  districts.  Speaking  on  this  point,  Captain  (after- 
wards Sir)  Cornwallis  Harris  wrote  upwards  of  sixty  years  ago :  "  This  beautiful  and  wary 
animal  never  of  its  own  free  will  descends  into  the  plain,  as  erroneously  asserted  by  all  natural- 
ists, and  it  therefore  never  herds  with  either  of  its  congeners,  the  quagga  and  Burchell's  zebra, 
whose  habitat  is  equally  limited  to  the  open  and  level  lowlands.  Seeking  the  wildest  and  most 
sequestered  spots,  the  haughty  troops  are  exceedingly  difficult  of  approach,  as  well  on  account  of 
their  watchful  habits  and  extreme  agility  and  fleetness  of  foot,  as  from  the  abrupt  and  inaccessible 
nature  of  their  highland  abode." 

An  allied  species,  of  which  examples  have  been  obtained  by  Mr.  G.  W.  Penrice,  occurs  in 
Benguela,  Portuguese  West  Africa. 

I  once  saw  the  carcase  of  a  zebra  stallion  which  had  been  sent  by  rail  to  the  Cape  Town 
Museum  by  a  farmer  living  in  the  neighbourhood  of  the  village  of  Worcester.  This  animal  had 
come  down  from  the  mountains,  and  joined  a  troop  of  donkeys  running  on  the  farm.  Its  intrusion 
was,  however,  resented  by  a  male  donkey,  which  fought  with  and  overpowered  it,  and,  having 
seized  it  with  its  teeth  by  the  back  of  the  neck,  held  it  fast  until  it  was  secured  by  the  farmer  and 
his  men.  The  captured  animal,  however,  refused  food,  and  soon  died,  when  its  carcase  was  sent 
to  the  Cape  Museum  for  preservation. 

GREVY'S  ZEBRA  is  the  largest  and   perhaps  the  handsomest  of  all  the  zebras.     This  fine 


animal  is  an  inhabitant  of  Eastern  Africa,  its  range  extending  from  the  central  portion  of 
Somaliland  southwards  to  the  Tana  River.  It  appears  to  be  plentiful  in  the  country  between 
Mount  Kenia  and  Lake  Rudolph,  but  has  not,  I  believe,  been  met  with  to  the  west  of  that  lake. 
Full-grown  specimens  of  Grevy's  zebra  will  stand  from  14^  to  15  hands  at  the  shoulder,  with  a 
girth  of  body  immediately  behind  the  shoulders  of  nearly  5  feet.  The  arrangement  of  the  stripes  in 
this  species  differs  considerably  both  from  that  of  the  mountain-zebra  of  the  Cape  Colony  and  also 
from  Burchell's  zebra.  The  body-stripes  are  very  narrow,  numerous,  and  deep  black  in  colour, 
and  are  separated  by  equally  narrow  white  bands.  The  longitudinal  stripes  on  the  haunches 
are  also  shorter  and  finer  than  in  any  other  species  of  zebra,  and  on  the  top  of  the  centre  of  the 
back  from  the  neck  to  the  tail.  The  belly  and  insides  of  the  thighs  are  white,  and  the  legs  banded 
right  down  to  the  hoofs  as  in  the  mountain-zebra,  and  the  ears  are  as  large  as  in  that  species. 


Phtti  b)  Ptrcy  dihtndtn 

BURCHELL'S    ZEBRA    AT    HOME 

Thit  excellent  photograph  was  taken  in  South  Africa,  and  shoioi  theit  animalt  in  their  native  state 


I92        THE   LIVING   ANIMALS    OF    THE    WORLD 

Grevy's  zebra  is,  as  a  rule,  an  inhabitant  of  open  or  thinly  wooded  country,  and  it  appears  to 
avoid  anything  in  the  nature  of  thick  cover.  In  Central  Somaliland  Major  Swayne  met  with  it 
on  low  plateaux  some  2,500  feet  above  sea-level,  the  sides  of  which  fell  in  broken  ravines  to  the 
river- valleys.  This  country  is  described  as  broken  and  hilly,  and  here  Grevy's  zebras  were  met 
with  in  small  droves  of  about  half  a  dozen.  In  the  country  between  Mount  Kenia  and  Lake 
Rudolph,  Mr.  A.  H.  Neumann  frequently  met  with  herds  of  Grevy's  and  Burchell's  zebras 
consorting  together.  The  contrast  between  the  two  species  when  thus  seen  side  by  side  was 
very  marked,  the  former  animals  looking  like  horses  among  a  flock  of  ponies.  Mr.  Neumann 
never  observed  stallions  of  the  two  species  fighting  together,  but  on  the  other  hand  he  states  that 
the  stallions  of  the  larger  species  fight  viciously  amongst  themselves  for  possession  of  the  mares. 
Grevy's  zebras  seem  never  to  collect  in  large  herds,  more  than  twenty,  or  at  the  outside  thirty 
being  very  seldom  seen  together. 

Although  this  species  is  an  inhabitant  of  arid  plains  and  bare  stony  hills  where  the  herbage 

is  short,  it  requires 
to  drink  daily,  and 
is  never  therefore 
found  at  any  great 
distance  from  water. 
The  cry  of  Grevy's 
zebra  is  stated  to  be 
quite  different  from 
that  of  Burchell's. 
Mr.  Neumann  de- 
scribes it  as  a  very 
hoarse  kind  of  grunt, 
varied  by  something 
approaching  to  a 
whistle,  the  grunts 
being  long  drawn 
out,  and  divided  by 
the  shrill  whistling 
sound,  as  if  the  latter 
were  made  by  draw- 
ing in  the  breath 
which  had  been  ex- 
pelled during  the 
sustained  grunt. 

Like  all  other  species  of  the  genus  to  which  they  belong,  Grevy's  zebras,  especially  the  mares 
when  in  foal,  become  very  fat  at  certain  seasons  of  the  year,  and  their  flesh  is  much  appreciated 
both  by  natives  and  lions,  the  latter  preying  on  them  and  their  smaller  congeners,  Burchell's 
zebras,  in  preference  to  any  other  animal,  now  that  the  rinderpest  has  almost  exterminated  the 
great  herds  of  buffalo  which  once  roamed  in  countless  numbers  all  over  East  Central  Africa. 

BURCHELL'S  ZEBRA  once  inhabited  the  whole  of  Southwestern,  Southeastern,  Central,  and 
Eastern  Africa  from  the  Orange  River  to  Lake  Rudolph ;  and  though  it  has  long  ceased  to  exist 
in  the  more  southerly  portions  of  its  range,  it  is  still  the  most  numerous  and  the  best  known  of 
all  the  species  of  zebra. 

The  typical  form  of  this  species  was  first  met  with  early  last  century  by  Dr.  Burchell  in 
Southern  Bechuanaland.  In  this  form  the  legs  are  white  below  the  knees  and  hocks,  and  the 
body-stripes  do  not  join  the  median  stripe  of  the  belly.  In  examples  met  with  farther  north 
the  legs  are  striped  down  to  the  hoofs  and  the  body-stripes  join  the  belly-stripe.  South  of 


Photo  h  J.  T.  Newman}  [Bfrtoamsttd 

THE    HON.    WALTER    ROTHSCHILD'S    TEAM  OF    ZEBRAS 

Mr,  Rothschild  was  f  radically  the  first  person  to  break  in  xebras  to  harness.  At  one  time  these 
animals  -were  thought  to  be  quite  untamable 


THE    HORSE    TRIBE 


193 


the  Zambesi  all  forms  of  Burchell's  zebra  seem  to  have  faint  markings,  known  as  shadow- 
stripes,  on  the  pale  yellow  ground-colour  of  the  spaces  between  the  broad  black  stripes. 
North  of  the  Zambesi  varieties  are  met  with  in  which  these  shadow-stripes  are  wanting.  As, 
however,  the  differences  between  all  the  various  sub-species  of  Burchell's  zebra  are  superficial 
and  not  structural,  and  as,  moreover,  the  habits  of  these  animals  seem  to  be  the  same  in  every 
part  of  their  widely  extended  range,  I  shall  henceforth  speak  of  them  as  one  species. 

Burchell's  zebra  is  without  the  small  horizontal  bars  on  the  hindquarters,  which  in  the 
mountain-zebra  connect  the  dorsal  stripe  with  the  uppermost  of  the  broad  longitudinal  bands 
running  across  the  flanks.  Its  ears,  too,  are  smaller  than  in  the  latter  species,  and  its  mane 
fuller.  In  size  Burchell's  zebra  is  intermediate  between  the  mountain-zebra  and  Grevy's 
zebra,  standing  from  thirteen  to  thirteen  and  a  half  hands  at  the  shoulder. 


By  firminitn  cf  Mr.  William  Crtn 

BURCHELL'S    ZEBRA,    CHAPMAN'S   VARIETY 

Where  they  have  not  been  shot  down,  Burchell's  zebras  often  live  in  large  herds  of  from 
fifty  to  over  a  hundred  together.  I  have  met  with  them  almost  at  the  level  of  the  sea,  as  in 
the  Pungwe  district  of  South-east  Africa,  and  all  over  the  high  plateaux  of  the  interior  up  to 
a  height  of  5  000  feet  above  sea-level.  They  are  partial  to  sparsely  forested  country  intersected 
by  open  glades,  but  also  frequent  open  plains  entirely  devoid  of  trees  or  bush,  having  been 
once  numerous  on  the  open  downs  of  the  Western  Transvaal  and  Orange  River  Colony, 
never  live  in  dense  jungle,  but  I  have  met  with  them  frequently  amongst  broken  rugged  hills 
Burchell's  zebras  are  both  fleet  and  enduring,  but  I  have  often  galloped  right  amongst  a  her 
of  them  when  mounted  on  a  fast  horse,  and  in  good  ground.  In  broken,  hilly,  and  stony 
ground,  however,  no  horse  can  live  with  a  Burchell's  zebra.  The  hoofs  of  this  spec.es  seem 
made  for  running  in  rocky  ground,  being  deeply  hollowed  and  as  hard  as  iron. 

I  have  always  found  the  presence  of  Burchell's  zebras  a  sure  indication  that  water  was  i 

25 


194         THE     LIVING    ANIMALS    OF    THE    WORLD 


MARE   AND    FOAL    OF   BURCHELL'S    ZEBRA 

These  animals  breed  regularly  in  captivity 


far  distant,  and  it  is  my  experience 
that  these  animals  require  to  drink 
daily,  and  never  wander  more  than 
a  few  miles  away  from  the  pool  or 
river  they  frequent. 

This  species  of  zebra  may  often 
be  seen  in  Southern  Africa  in 
company  with  other  animals,  such 
as  buffaloes,  blue  wildebeests,  elands, 
gemsbucks,  roan  and  sassaby  ante- 
lopes, and  ostriches,  and  I  have  upon 
several  occasions  seen  them  come  up 
to  domestic  cattle  and  horses.  They 
are  naturally  not  very  wary,  and  in 
parts  of  the  country  where  they 
have  not  been  much  molested  are 
often  very  inquisitive,  and  will  come 
trotting  quite  close  up  to  a  caravan, 
provided  they  do  not  get  the  scent 
of  human  beings.  Foals  of  this 

species  are  easily  caught,  and  become  at  once  very  tame  and  confiding;   nor  do  I  believe  that 

adult  Burchell's  zebras  are  such  vicious  animals  as  is  generally  supposed,  since  I   have  seen 

several  which  were  very  quiet  and   well  broken,  whilst  even  the   half-broken  animals,  which 

were  at  one  time  used  on  one  of  the  coach-lines  in  the  Transvaal,  did  not  appear  very  vicious. 
As  with  Grevy's  zebra,  the  flesh  of  the  species  under  consideration  is  much  appreciated 

both  by  natives  and  lions.     I  have  often  seen  the  fat  on  the  quarters  of  the  mares  quite  an 

inch  thick.     It  is  of  a  dark  yellow  colour,  and  too  rich  to  suit  the  stomach  of  a  European. 

The  meat  is  rather  sweet  in  taste,  but  if  fried  with  bacon  not  at  all  unpalatable. 
Professor  Ewart  has  lately  carried  out  a  very 

interesting  series  of  experiments  on  the  hybrid- 
ising of  zebras  and  horses.     The  results  were  very 

satisfactory.     The  zebra  cross  proved  to  be  very 

hardy  creatures,  capable  of  wintering  in  the  open 

on    the    hills    of   Scotland.     The    scientific    data 

obtained  were  of  singular  value,  as  showing  the 

effect  of  crossbreeding  on  subsequent  generations 

of  foals  of  the  same  mother.     It  has  long  been 

believed  that  the  influence  of  the  first  sire  was  seen 

in  foals  cf  which  other  animals  were  subsequently 

the  fathers.     Thus,  if  a  white  mare  threw  a  foal 

to  a  black  stallion,  it  was   considered    that   her 

subsequent  progeny  would  occasionally  be  black, 

and  instances  were  freely  quoted  to  support  this 

theory      The  scientific  name  of  "  telegony  "  was 

given  to  this  supposed  influence  of  previous  sires 

on  futureoffspring.  Professor  Ewart's  experiments, 

in  which    pony  mares  were   first    mated  with   a 

zebra  and  afterwards  with  horses,  show  that  this 

theory  of  telegony  is  erroneous.     The  foals  sired 

afterwards  by  ponies  and  horses  showed  no  trace 

whatever  of  zebra  stripes,  but  were  normal  pony 

foals,  and  not  altered  either  in  shape  or  disposition. 


Fhtti  by  Norman  B.  Smith,  EJJ. 

BURCHELL'S    ZEBRA 

Thit  species  is  occasionally  domesticated  and  driven  in 
Africa,  as  it  it  not  injured  by  the  tsetse  Jiy 


South 


THE    HORSE    TRIBE 


195 


The  QUAGGA,  which  became 
extinct  about  thirty  years  ago, 
never  had  a  very  extended  range, 
but  in  the  early  part  of  the 
last  century  it  existed  in  great 
numbers  on  all  the  upland  plains 
of  the  Cape  Colony  to  the  west 
of  the  Kei  River,  and  in  the 
open  treeless  country  lying  be- 
tween the  Orange  and  Vaal 
Rivers.  North  of  the  Vaal  it 
appears  to  have  been  unknown. 

The  quagga  seems  to  have 
been  nearly  allied  to  Burchell's 
zebra  —  especially  to  the  most 
southerly  form  of  that  species  — 
but  was  much  darker  in  general 
colour,  being  of  a  dark  rufous 
brown  on  the  neck  and  upper- 
parts  of  the  body,  becoming 
lighter  on  the  sides,  and  fading 
off  to  white  beneath  and  behind.  Instead  of  being  striped,  too,  over  the  whole  body,  it  was 
only  strongly  banded  on  the  head  and  neck,  the  dark  brown  stripes  becoming  fainter  on  the 
shoulders  and  dying  away  in  spots  and  blotches.  On  the  other  hand,  in  size  and  build,  in 
the  appearance  of  its  mane,  ears,  and  tail,  and  in  general  habits,  it  seems  to  have  nearly 
resembled  its  handsomer  relative.  The  barking  neigh  "  qua-ha-ha,  qua-ha-ha  "  seems,  too,  to 
have  been  the  same  in  both  species.  The  word  "  quagga  "  is  pronounced  in  South  Africa 
"  qua-ha,"  and  is  of  Hottentot  origin,  being  an  imitation  of  the  animal's  neighing  call.  To-day 
Burchell's  zebras  are  invariably  called  Qua-has  by  both  Boers  and  British  colonists. 


fhtto  by  Pirtj  Aihtndtn 

ZEBRAS    ON    TABLE   MOUNTAIN 

Another  South  African  photograph.      Notice  Cape  Town  in  the  far  distance 


WILD  ASSES 


QUAGGA 

Thit  is,  -we  believe,  the  only  known  photograph  from  lift  of  this  -very  rare 
animal.  There  •will  probably  never  be  another t  for  the  quagga  is  generally 
supposed  to  be  extinct 


The  true  asses  are  without  stripes 
on  the  head,  neck,  and  body,  with  the 
exception  of  a  dark  streak  down  the 
back  from  the  mane  to  the  tail,  which 
is  present  in  all  members  of  the  group, 
and  in  some  cases  a  dark  band  across 
the  shoulders  and  irregular  markings 
on  the  legs. 

In  Africa  the  wild  ass  is  only 
found  in  the  desert  regions  of  the 
north-eastern  portion  of  that  continent, 
being  an  inhabitant  of  Abyssinia, 
Somaliland,  Gallaland,  the  Soudan,  and 
the  arid  districts  bordering  the  Red 
Sea.  The  form  of  wild  ass  found  in 
Somaliland  differs  in  some  respects  from 
its  near  relative  of  the  Nubian  Desert, 
in  that  it  is  of  a  paler  colour,  has  the 
dorsal  stripe  but  faintly  marked,  and  is 
without  a  cross  stripe  over  the  shoulders, 


196      THE    LIVING    ANIMALS    OF    THE    WORLD 

whilst  on  the  other  hand  it  has  numerous  markings  both  on  the  front  and  hind  legs.  Naturalists 
are,  however,  agreed  that,  although  there  may  be  certain  small  differences  in  the  colour  and 
markings  of  the  wild  asses  found  in  different  localities  of  Northern  Africa,  such  variations  are 
of  no  specific  value,  and  only  one  species  is  recognised. 

The  AFRICAN  WILD  Ass  is  a  fine  animal,  standing  between  13  and  I4hands  atthe  shoulder. 
It  lives  in  small  herds  or  families  of  four  or  five  individuals,  and  is  not  found  in  mountainous 
districts,  but  frequents  low  stony  hills  and  arid  desert-wastes.  It  is  as  a  general  rule  an 
alert  animal  and  difficult  to  approach,  and  so  fleet  and  enduring  that,  excepting  in  the  case 
of  foals  and  mares  heavy  in  young,  it  cannot  be  overtaken  even  by  a  well-mounted  horseman. 
Notwithstanding  the  scanty  nature  of  the  herbage  in  the  districts  they  frequent,  these  desert- 
bred  asses  are  always  in  good  condition.  They  travel  long  distances  to  water  at  night,  but 
appear  to  require  to  drink  regularly.  Their  flesh  is  eaten  by  the  natives  of  the  Soudan.  The 
bray  of  the  African  wild  ass  is  said  to  be  indistinguishable  from  that  of  the  domesticated 
animal,  which  latter  is  undoubtedly  descended  from  the  wild  African  breed. 

In  Asia  three  varieties  of  the  wild  ass  are  found,  which  were  formerly  believed  to 
represent  three  distinct  species;  but  since  the  points  of  difference  between  these  varying  forms 
do  not  appear  to  be  of  specific  value,  all  the  local  races  of  the  Asiatic  wild  ass  are  now 
considered  to  belong  to  one  species. 

These  wild  asses  have  a  wide  range,  and  are  met  with  in  the  deserts  of  Asia  from 
Syria  to  Persia  and  Western  India,  and  northwards  throughout  the  more  arid  portions  of 
Central  Asia. 

In  Tibet  and  Mongolia  the  wild  ass  inhabits  the  high  mountain-plateaux,  and  lives  at 
elevations  of  14,000  feet  and  upwards  above  the  sea.  This  local  race,  know  as  the  KlANG, 
approaches  in  size  to  the  African  wild  ass,  standing  13  hands  at  the  shoulder.  It  is  dark 
reddish  brown  in  colour,  with  a  very  narrow  dorsal  stripe.  The  ONAGER  of  Western  India 
and  Baluchistan  is  a  smaller  and  lighter-coloured  animal,  with  a  broader  stripe  down  the 
back.  In  parts  of  its  range  it  is  found  at  sea-level.  In  Persia  and  Syria  a  third  local  race 
of  wild  ass  is  found,  which,  however,  differs  from  the  two  forms  already  enumerated  in  no 
essential  particular. 

Like  their  African  congeners,  the  wild  asses  of  Asia  are  inhabitants  of  the  waste  places 
of  the  earth,  frequenting  desert  plains  and  wind-swept  steppes.  They  are  said  to  be  so  fleet 
and  enduring  that,  except  in  the  case  of  a  mare  heavy  with  foal,  they  cannot  be  overtaken 

by  a  single  horseman. 

The  wild  asses  of  the 
desert  plains  of  India  and 
Persia  are  said  to  be  very  wary 
and  difficult  to  approach,  but 
the  kiang  of  Tibet  is  always 
spoken  of  as  a  much  more 
confiding  animal,  its  curiosity 
being  so  great  that  it  will 
frequently  approach  to  within 
a  short  distance  of  any  un- 
familiar object,  such  as  a 
sportsman  engaged  in  stalking 
other  game. 

Asiatic  wild  asses  usually 
live  in  small  families  of  four 
or  five,  but  sometimes  congre- 
gate in  herds.  Their  food 
consists  of  various  grasses  in 
the  low-lying  portions  of  their 


Phito  by  J.  W.  McLfllan 


BALUCHI    WILD    ASS 


This 


tnc  of  the  three  hading  -varieties  of  the  Asiatic  -wild  ass.     It  h  found  in  Weaern  India 
and  Baluchistan 


THE    HORSE    TRIBE 


97 


MALE   KIANG 
The  kiang  comes  from  the  Tibetan  highlands.      It  is  the  largest  and  most  horse-like  of  the  -wild  asses  of  Asia 

range,  but  of  woody  plants  on  the  high  mountain-plateaux,  where  little  else  is  to  be  obtained. 
Of  wild  asses  in  general  the  late  Sir  Samuel  Baker  once  said :  "  Those  who  have  seen  donkeys 
only  in  their  civilised  state  can  have  no  conception  of  the  wild  or  original  animal;  it  is  the 
perfection  of  activity  and  courage." 


DOMESTICATED   HORSE,   ASSES,   AND   MULES 

BY   W.    P.    PYCRAFT,    A.L.S.,    F.Z.S. 


THE  DOMESTICATED  HORSE 

LIKE  the  wild  camels,  genuine  wild  horses  are  very  generally  believed  to  be  extinct.  The 
vast  herds  which  occur  to-day  in  a  wild  state  in  Europe,  America,  and  Australia  are  to  be 
regarded,  say  those  who  believe  in  the  extinction  theory,  as  descended  from  domesticated 
animals  which  have  run  wild.  So  far  as  the  American  and  Australian  horses  are  concerned, 
this  is  no  doubt  true ;  but  of  the  European  stocks  it  is  by  no  means  so  certain.  For 
Dr.  Nehring — and  he  speaks  with  authority  —  assures  us  that  the  wild  horses  known  as 
TARPANS,  which  occur  on  the  steppes  north  of  the  Sea  of  Azoff,  between  the  river  Dnieper  and 
the  Caspian,  are  veritable  wild  horses,  the  last  remaining  members  of  enormous  herds  which 
occurred  in  Europe  before  the  dawn  of  civilisation.  These  horses  formed  no  small  part  of  the 
food  of  the  savage  races  of  men  then  inhabiting  this  continent.  This  we  know  because  of  the 
quantities  of  their  remains  found  in  the  caves  of  the  south  of  France,  for  instance,  associated 
with  the  remains  of  the  men  who  hunted  them.  Further  evidence  of  this  we  have  in  the 
shape  of  crude  engravings  on  pieces  of  bone  and  deer  horns,  carved  by  the  more  artistic 
spirits  amongst  these  early  hunters.  From  these  drawings  we  gather  that  the  horse  they 
hunted  was  small  in  size  and  heavy  in  build,  with  a  large  head  and  rough,  shaggy  mane  and 


198       THE    LIVING    ANIMALS    OF    THE    WORLD 


tail  —  a  horse,  in  fact,  almost  identical  with  the  above-mentioned  tarpan.  But  long  before 
historic  records  begin  these  horses  must  have  been  domesticated ;  man  discovered  that  they 
could  be  even  more  useful  alive  than  dead,  and  from  that  time  forth  the  horse  became  his 
inseparable  companion.  "  Caesar  found  the  Ancient  Britons  and  Germans  using  war-chariots 
drawn  by  horses." 

But  the  stock  of  domestic  horses  drawn  from  this  tarpan  breed  appears  to  have  died 
out  almost  entirely,  the  majority  of  horses  now  existing  being  probably  descendants  of  the 
native  wild  horses  of  Asia,  the  product  of  a  still  earlier  domestication.  In  Egypt  the  horse, 
as  a  domestic  animal,  seems  to  have  been  preceded  by  the  ass;  but  about  1900  B.C.  it 
begins  to  appear  in  the  r6le  of  a  war-horse,  to  draw  chariots.  Its  use,  indeed,  until  the 
Middle  Ages  was  almost  universally  as  a  war-horse. 

From  the  time  of  its  domestication  till  to-day  the  history  of  the  horse  has  been  one 
of  progress.  The  care  and  forethought  of  the  breeder  have  produced  many  varieties,  resulting 
in  such  extremes  as  the  London  Dray-horse,  the  Racer,  and  the  Shetland  Pony. 

The  coloration  of  our  various  breeds  of  horses  is  generally  without  any  definite  marking 
piebald  and  dappled  being  the  nearest  approach  to  a  pattern.  Occasionally,  however,  horses  are 

found  with  a  dark 
stripe  along  the  back, 
and  sometimes  with 
dark  stripes  on  the 
shoulders  and  legs. 
Darwin,  discovering 
a  number  of  horses  so 
marked  belonging  to 
different  breeds,  came 
to  the  conclusion  that 
probably  all  existing 
races  of  horses  were 
descended  from  a 
"single  dun-coloured, 
more  or  less  striped 
primitive  stock,  to 
which  [stock]  our 
horses  occasionally 
revert." 


YEARLING    ARAB    COLTS 

Note  the  colts  examining  the  photographer*  i  bag.      They  are  •very  inquhhi-ve  creatures,  tut  easily  frightened 


"  If  we  were  not 

so  habituated  to  the  sight  of  the  horse,"  says  the  late  Sir  William  Flower,  "as  hardly  ever 
to  consider  its  structure,  we  should  greatly  marvel  at  being  told  of  a  mammal  so  strangely 
constructed  that  it  had  but  a  single  toe  on  each  extremity,  on  the  end  of  the  nail  of 
which  it  walked  or  galloped.  Such  a  conformation  is  without  parallel  in  the  vertebrate  series." 

By  the  aid  of  fossils  we  can  trace  out  all  the    stages  through  which  this  wonderful  foot   has 
,   .  .   . 

in    arriving  at  its  present  state  of  perfection :    we  can  see  how    it    has    become  more 

and  more  beautifully  adapted  to  fulfil  the  requirement  demanded  —  a  firm  support  to  enable 
its  owner  to  cover  hard  ground  at  great  speed.  The  study  of  the  structure  of  this  foot,  and  a 
comparison  with  the  intermediate  forms,  make  it  clear  that  this  toe  corresponds  to  the  third 
finger  or  toe  of  the  human  hand  or  foot  —  according  as  we  compare  the  fore  or  hind  limbs  — 
and  that  its  development  was  at  the  expense  of  the  remaining  toes,  which  gradually  dvvindledj 
and  disappeared,  leaving  in  the  living  one-toed  horse  only  traces  of  the  second  and  fourth  toes 
in  the  shape  of  a  pair  of  splint-bones,  one  on  either  side  of  the  excessively  developed  third  toe.  j 

The  horses,  it  must  be  remarked,  may  be  distinguished  from  the  asses  by  the  fact  that  the 
tail  m  the  former  is  clothed  with  long  hair  throughout;  in  the  latter  long  hair  springs  only 
from  the  sides  and  end,  forming  a  tuft.  Furthermore,  the  horses  have  a  remarkable  horny 


Phot,  by  r.  FaU 

ARAB  MARE; 

Nothing  -would  induce  this  hone  to  stand  still  in  order  to  be  photographed ;  so  as  a  last  resource  the  rider  put  on  her  Arab  cottumt. 

like  magic,  for  under  its  spell  the  animal  at  once  became  quiet 

I99 


This  acted 


200      THE    LIVING    ANIMALS    OF    THE    WORLD 


Photi  by  T.  fall 


ARAB    MARES    AND    FOALS 


excrescence,  resembling  a  huge  black  and  flattened  wart,  on  each  hind  leg  just  below  the 
"  hock,"  or  heel-joint.  This  excrescence  is  commonly  known  as  the  "  chestnut."  Its  function 
is  unknown.  A  similar  pair  of  "  chestnuts "  occurs  on  the  inner  side  of  the  fore  limb  just 
above  the  wrist,  or  "  knee,"  as  it  is  generally  called.  The  "  chestnuts  "  of  the  fore  limb  occur 
also  in  the  asses,  but  not  those  of  the  hind  limb. 

THE  ARAB  HORSE 

This  magnificent  and  justly  celebrated  animal  is  chosen  first  for  consideration  because 
it  is  probably  a  direct  descendant  of  an  original  wild  breed  —  the  Asiatic  wild  horse.  How 
far  back  the  domestication  of  this  breed  began  will  probably  never  be  exactly  known.  Till 
the  third  century  after  Christ  the  Arabs  were  almost  certainly  camel-riders ;  but  by  the 
sixth  century  of  our  era  we  find  them  in  possession  of  a  breed  of  horses  which  they  regarded 
with  great  reverence,  and  spoke  of  as  an  heritage  from  their  forefathers.  They  were  probably 
introduced  from  the  Caucasus  or  Asia  Minor.  The  Arab  horse  found  its  way  into  Europe,  perhaps 
accompanied  by  an  allied  breed  —  the  Barb  —  with  the  Arab  invasion  of  Spain  in  the  eighth  and 
ninth  centuries,  leaving  traces  of  its  sojourn  in  the  Andalusian  and  the  French  Limousin.  But 
the  great  value  of  Arab  blood  was  not  appreciated  till  armour  ceased  to  be  used,  the  excessive 
weight  of  this  demanding  a  horse  of  heavy  build. 

The  Arab  does  not  appear  to  have  been  introduced  into  England  till  the  seventeenth 
century ;  but  the  result  of  that  introduction,  as  we  shall  see  presently,  has  been  fraught  with 
tremendous  consequences.  In  its  native  land  it  appears  to  have  been  bred  chiefly  for  thej 
purposes  of  warfare.  The  success  with  which  the  breeders'  judicious  selection  has  been! 
rewarded  is  plainly  seen  in  the  wonderful  powers  of  endurance  on  long  marches ;  so  that,  at 
the  end  of  a  raid,  the  animal  is  still  fresh  enough  either  for  flight,  if  necessary,  or  for  a  final 
rush  on  a  retreating  enemy.  Besides,  Arabs  possess  great  courage,  and  are  frugal  both  in  the 
matter  of  food  and  drink. 


THE    HORSE    TRIBE 


201 


As  a  race-horse,  one  enthusiast 
assures  us,  the  Arab  is  superior  to 
every  other  natural  breed ;  he  is 
beaten  only  by  his  own  half-breed 
offspring  —  the  English  Race-horse. 
But  this  seems  to  be  rather  an  over- 
estimate. 

The  colour  of  the  Arab  varies ; 
white  is  the  most  highly  esteemed, 
but  bay  and  chestnut  are  common, 
black  being  rare.  Strange  as  it  may 
seem,  the  white  breed  is  never  born 
white. 

The  great  affection  of  the  Arab 
for  his  horse  is  proverbial.  The 
following  story  is  certainly  worth 
repeating :  "  The  whole  stock  of  an 
Arab  of  the  desert  consisted  of  a 
mare.  The  French  Consul  offered  to 
purchase  her,  in  order  to  send  her 
to  his  sovereign,  Louis  XIV.  The 
Arab  would  have  rejected  the  pro- 
posal ;  but  being  miserably  poor,  with 
scarcely  a  rag  to  cover  him,  his  wife 
and  children  starving,  he  was  tempted 
greatly.  At  length  he  yielded.  He 
brought  the  mare  to  the  consul's 
house,  and  stood  leaning  on  her  neck, 


Phttt  b}  T.  Fall 


HACKNEY   AND    FOAL 

A  specimen  of  the  English  carriage-horse 


PERCHERON    HORSE 


and  looking,  now  at  the  gold,  and  now 
at  the  horse.  The  gold  was  good  to 
look  upon;  it  would  make  him  rich 
for  life.  Turning  at  last  to  his 
favourite,  he  said :  '  To  whom  is  it 
I  am  going  to  yield  thee  up?  To 
Europeans,  who  will  tie  thee  close, 
who  will  beat  thee,  who  will  make 
thee  miserable.  Return  with  me,  my 
beauty,  my  jewel,  and  rejoice  the 
hearts  of  my  children.'  At  the  last 
of  these  words  he  sprang  upon  her 
back,  and  was  in  a  few  moments  out 
of  sight." 

THE  BARB 

This  is  an  African  breed,  which, 
like  the  generality  of  African  horses, 
is  distinguished  from  those  of  Asia 
by  its  long  limbs  and  small  girth 
at  the  loins,  thus  resembling  the 
foals  of  other  breeds.  It  displays 
great  powers  of  enduring  hunger  and 


202         THE     LIVING    ANIMALS    OF    THE    WORLD 


Photo  by  C.  Rtld 


A  perfect  English  thoroughbred.      With  this  racer  Lord  Rosebcry  won  the  Derby 

in  1894 


thirst;  and  is  fleet,  with  a  high 
and  graceful  action.  The  barb  takes 
its  name  from  its  native  land  — 
Barbary.  It  is  a  larger  breed  than 
the  Arab. 

LEVANT  AND  PERSIAN  HORSES 

These  are  very  closely  allied  to 
the  Arab,  but  generally  of  larger 
size ;  and  in  Southern  Persia,  at  least, 
less  delicately  framed.  The  Turko- 
man horses  are  related  to  those  of 
Northern  Persia. 

THE  ENGLISH  RACE-HORSE 

This  animal  is  the  product  of 
very  careful  selection  and  gradual 
improvement  of  an  original  native 
breed,  extending  over  several  cen- 

LADAS  turies.     Long  since,  so   long  ago  as 

the  reign  of  James  I.,  it  had  reached 
a  high  degree  of  excellence. 

Upon  this  native  stock  there  has 

been  built  up,  by  the  infusion  of  Arab  blood,  the  swiftest  horse  which    the   world   has   ever 

known  —  the  BRITISH  THOROUGHBRED.     "  Of  this  breed,  it  may  be  stated,"  says  Mr.  Allison, 

"  that  every  such  animal  in  the  stud-book  of  the  present  day,  in  this  country  or  any  other, 

descends  .  .  .  from  one  of  three  original   Eastern  sires  —  the  Darley  Arabian,   the   Byerley 

Turk,    or  the  Godolphin  Arabian."     This  is  an    extremely   interesting   fact,    and   constitutes 

a  lasting  monument  to  the  enterprise  and  acumen  of  the  British  horse-breeder. 
The  Byerley  Turk   hailed   from 

the  Levant,  and  was  introduced   by 

Captain  Byerley  about   1689.     From 

t!ie  Byerley  Turk    came    Herod,  the 

most  celebrated  of  his  descendants, 

who  has  given  rise  to  the  Herod  line, 

which  to-day  is  but  feebly  represented. 
The  Godolphin  Arabian,  or  the 

Godolphin  Barb,  was  born  about  1724. 

From     his     grandson     Matchem     is 

derived  the  Matchem   line,  which   is 

also  to-day  bordering  on  extinction. 
The  Darley  Arabian  carries    us 

back   to  the  reign  of  Queen  Anne. 

Flying  Childers  and  Bartlett's  Childers 

are  directly  descended  from  him  ;  and 

from  the  latter  is  descended  Eclipse, 

the  fastest  horse  which  the  turf  has 

ever  known.     It  is  interesting  to  note 

that  the  descendants  in  the  Eclipse 

line  enormously  outnumber  those  of          ph°'° by  °-  R'id 

the  other  two  lines  which  we  have  con-  FLORIZEL  II 

sidered.  Of  his  descendants,  one  of  the  One  of  King  Edward's  racing-stud 


THE    HORSE   TRIBE 


203 


SHETLAND    PONY   AND   FOAL 


most  illustrious  is  Stockwell, 
who  has  been  described  as 
the  most  extraordinary  sire 
of  all  time,  whose  blood  is 
coming  more  than  ever  to 
the  front. 

THE  TROTTING-HORSE 

This  is  an  American 
breed.  The  trotting-horse  is 
a  combination  of  barb  and 
Arab  on  an  English  stock. 
Most  of  the  trotting-  and  pac- 
ing-horses of  America  may  be 
traced  to  an  English  thorough- 
bred —  Messenger  —  who  was 
imported  into  America  in 
1 780.  This  horse  became  the 
founder  of  the  greatest  trot- 
ting family  in  the  world.  The 
speed  attained  by  some  of  the 
fastest  trotters  is  wonderful, 
a  mile  being  covered  in  some 
three  or  four  seconds  over 
two  minutes. 

Russia   is   the   only   European   country  with  a  distinct  breed   of  trotter  —  the   ORLOFF. 
This  breed  was  made  by  crossing  Arab  and  English  horses  with  the  native  races.     The  Orloff 

. has    not    the    speed    of    the 

r 

American     horse,     but     has 

greater  powers  of  endurance. 
The  trotting-season  in  Russia 
is  winter,  the  races  taking 
place  on  the  ice. 

The  PACER  is  not  a 
distinct  breed,  but  so  called 
on  account  of  its  curious 
method  of  trotting.  In 
trotting  the  left  fore  and 
right  hind  leg  strike  the 
ground  at  the  same  moment; 
in  pacing  the  fore  and  hind 
leg  of  the  same  side  move  in 
unison.  Some  wild  animals 
—  as  the  giraffe  —  are  pacers. 
"  Many  American  horses," 
says  Mr.  Winans,  "  are  able  to 
move  with  either  action,  a 
set  of  lighter  shoes  often 
sufficing  to  convert  a  trotter 
into  a  pacer."  Pacing  is 
CHAMPION  SHIRE  STALLION  a  swifter  mode  of  motion 

A  celebrated  cart  horu  than    trotting. 


ty  T.  fall 


SHIRE    MARE    AND    FOAL 


Pkolt,  by  T.  Fall 


WELSH    PONY 

This  photograph  shows  the  Duchess  of  Newcastle  with  one  of  her  -white  Wchh  ponies 

2O4 


THE    HORSE    TRIBE 


205 


Phatt  kj  C.  Kiid 


POLO-PONY 


furious  breedt  of  ponies  are  used  in  this  game,  but  the  most  estetmtd  at  the 
present  day  art  the  English-bred  New  Forest,  Dartmoor,  or  Exmoor,  or 
Welsh  ponies. 


The  pacing  record  time  stands 
at  one  mile  in  I  minute  59.]  seconds,  as 
against  the  trotting  record  of  one  mile 
in  2  minutes  3|  seconds. 

THE  HUNTER 

This  also  is  not  a  distinct  breed,  as 
some  suppose.  Any  good  riding-horse 
may  be  used  as  a  hunter.  "  Hunters  " 
have  been  made  by  infusing  the  blood 
of  the  race-horse  with  native  breeds. 
The  chief  requirements  are  a  muscular 
neck  and  chest,  with  a  rather  short 
body,  and  shorter  and  stouter  legs  than 
the  race-horse. 

From  the  half-bred  hunter  we  pass 
by  insensible  gradation  to  the  ordinary 
saddle-  and  carriage-horses.  The  ideal 
carriage-horse,  however,  is  more  of  a 
distinct  breed  than  the  hunter,  and 
known  as  the  CLEVELAND  BAY.  It  has 
been  produced  by  mingling  the  blood 
of  the  thoroughbred  with  that  of  a 
horse  of  stouter  make  than  that  of  the 
hunter  type. 

The  record  broad  jump  for  the  hunter,  we  might  mention  in  passing,  is  variously  stated 
to  be  from  33  to  37  feet! 

THE  SHETLAND  PONY 

This  is  a  native  of  the  Shetland 
Islands,  and  remarkable  for  its  small 
size,  docility,  and  hardihood.  It  is 
allowed  to  run  nearly  wild,  and  made  to 
forage  almost  entirely  for  itself.  In  the 
winter  it  grows  a  coat  of  great  length, 
which,  soon  becoming  matted,  forms  a 
most  effective  protection  against  cold  and 
wet.  TheDARTMOOR,  ExMOOR.andNEW 
FOREST  are  likewise  small  breeds,  but 
lack  the  symmetry  and  beauty  of  the 
Shetland. 

CART-HORSES 

Under  this  head  are  included  all 
the  large,  heavily  built  draught-horses. 
These  are  of  European  origin,  and 
without  intermixture  of  foreign  —  Asiatic 
or  African  —  blood.  In  England  the  most 
important  breeds  are  the  BLACK  or  SHIRE 
HORSE,  the  CLYDESDALE,  and  the  SUF- 

DONKEY  FOLK  PUNCH.     These  are  wonderful  in- 

A  Typical  Coster's  Donkey  stances  of  the  results  of  selective  breeding 


Pn,t,  tj  T.  Fall 


206         THE    LIVING    ANIMALS    OF    THE    WORLD 


Photo  b,  W.  R,id 

EGYPTIAN    DONKEYS 


towards  a  definite  end  —  large  size,  accom- 
panied by  great  physical  strength  and  powers 
of  endurance.  To  accomplish  this,  speed  has 
had  to  be  sacrificed. 

ASSES  AND  MULES 
ASSES 

THE  DOMESTIC  Ass,  so  common  to-day 
in  these  islands,  is  of  African  origin,  and 
has,  moreover,  departed  but  little  in  either 
form  or  colour  from  the  wild  race.  This  is 
probably  due  to  the  fact  that  the  ass  has 
not  been  subjected  in  this  country  to  that 
process  of  rigorous  and  careful  selection  that 
the  horse  has  undergone. 

We  have  no  record  of  its  first  intro- 
duction to  England,  but  it  was  certainly 
known  in  the  reign  of  Ethelred,  though  it 
was  a  rare  animal.  Later  it  appears  to 
have  died  out,  and  to  have  been  reintroduced 
in  the  reign  of  Elizabeth ;  but  it  has  never 
become  popular.  This  is  unfortunate;  its 
sterling  qualities  have  never  been  really 
appreciated  there.  Spain,  Italy,  and  Malta 
have  all  succeeded  in  raising  some  fine  breeds. 
The  United  States  has,  however,  produced 
the  finest  of  all  in  animals  standing  some 
15  or  1 6  hands  (5  feet  or  5  feet  4  inches) 


The  an  has  long  been  kno-wn  to  the  Egyptians,  having  been  in  use  by          high. 
them  before  the  introduction  of  the  horse 

MULES 

The  term  MULE,  strictly  speaking,  should  be  reserved  for  the  offspring  of  the  male  ass  and 
the  mare :   the  offspring  of  the  opposite  cross  is  called  the  HlNNY.     Mules  are  valued  on  account 
of  their  great  powers  of  endurance  and  their  sure-footedness.     The  finest  and  handsomest  are 
bred    in    Spain,    the    United 
States,  and  North-west  India. 

It  is  interesting  to  note 
that  mules  exhibit  a  strong 
tendency  to  revert  to  the 
dun-coloured  and  striped  col- 
oration believed  to  belong  to 
the  primitive  horses.  The  spi- 
nal and  shoulder  stripes  which 
sometimes  appear  in  horses, 
and  more  frequently  in  asses, 
occur  yet  more  frequently  in 
mules.  The  legs  of  the  mules 
appear  particularly  liable  to 
revert  to  this  striped  colora- 
tion in  the  United  States,  it 

Phut  by  C.  Riid] 

is  said  nine  out  of  ten  being 
so  marked. 


CHAPTER    XIII 


THE  HOLLOW  HORNED  RUMINANTS:   OXEN,  BISON 
BUFFALOES,  AND    MUSK-OX 

CATTLE,  Deer,  Camels,  Pigs,  Horses,  Tapirs,  Rhinoceroses,  and  Elephants  differ  greatly  in 
structure  from  the  orders  already  described.     They  are  classed  as  the  Ungulates,  or 
Hoofed  Mammals.     In  most  of  these,  such  as  the  Horse,  Deer,  and  Oxen,  the  toes  are 
contained  within  a  solid  hoof;  in  others,  such  as  the  Rhinoceros,  they  are  protected  by  broad 
nails.     Great  differences  exist  in  the   feet  of  the  various  groups  of  Ungulates,  caused  by  the 
degree  in  which  the  digits,  or  "  toes,"  remain  in  use  or  not.     Except  in  the  Elephant,  where 
there  are  five,  the  greatest  number  of  "  working  "  digits  found  in  existing  forms  is  four.     In 
the  Horse  and  its  surviving  allies  the  digits  are  reduced  to  one;   in  the  Giraffes,  to  two. 

The  general  process,  as  it  can  be  learnt  from  the  remains  of  the  horse-like  animals  of  the 
past,  seems  to  have  been  as  follows.  One  or  more  of  the  toes  were  developed  in  length  and 
strength  at  the  expense  of  the  others,  until,  in  the  case  of  the  Horse,  only  one  toe  remained, 
which  was  enclosed  in  a  large  and  solid  hoof,  little  splints  on  either  side  of  the  cannon-bone 
being  left  to  hint  where  the  second  and  fourth  toes  had  once  been.  In  the  Oxen  and  Deer  the 
third  and  fourth  toes  developed  equally,  at  the  expense  of  the  others,  and  each  gained  a  case 
or  covering,  which  makes  the  two  parts  of  the  "  cloven  hoof"  of  these  groups. 

The  first  group  of  the  order  of  Ungulates  is  represented  by  the  Hollow-horned  Ruminants. 
These  have  horns  set  on  a  core  of  bone,  the  horns  themselves  being  hollow  throughout.  They 
"  chew  the  cud,"  after  receiving  the  food  eaten  into  the  first  of  four  divisions  in  the  stomach, 
whence  it  is  brought  up  into  the  mouth,  and  then  swallowed  again  for  digestion.  The  Oxen, 
Sheep,  and  Goats  have  no  popular  name  by  which  they  are  collectively  distinguished,  but  their 
characteristics  are  sufficiently 
well  known.  The  horns  are 
never  shed  annually,  as  is  the 
case  with  the  Deer ;  and  the 
hoofs  are  cloven.  They  have 
no  incisor  teeth  in  the  upper 
jaw,  acharacteristicalso  shared 
by  the  Giraffes,  the  Prongbuck 
(or  American  antelope), andthe 
Deer.  The  lower  jaw  has  its  full 
complement  of  incisor  teeth. 

The  Oxen  and  the  allied 
Bison,  Yak,  and  Buffaloes  are 
the  bulkiest  and  most  impor- 
tant to  man  of  all  ruminants. 
Some  are  found  in  nearly  all 
inhabited  parts  of  the  Old 
World,  and  there  is  one  North 

.  Phots  kf  £.  L 

American  species,  now  practt-  ENGLISH  PARK-CATTLE 

Cally    exterminated    as    a  wild         Jhif  fkatografh  rtfrtunu  two  animals  of  Afferent  tyfei.     The  bulllipurt-brtdi  thtcoviit* 

animal. 

207 


crou-brtd 


208         THE    LIVING    ANIMALS    OF    THE    WORLD 


Phot,  by  W.  P.  Dande 

ENGLISH    PARK    BULL 

The  similarity  in  shape  to  the  best-bred  modern  shorthorns  is  obvious 


BRITISH    PARK-CATTLE,   AND 
THE    AUROCHS 

THE  so-called  "  WILD  CATTLE  "  found  in 
the  parks  of  Chillingham  and  Chartley,  as 
well  as  in  Lord  Leigh's  park  at  Lyme,  and 
in  that  of  the  Duke  of  Hamilton  at  Cadzovv 
Castle,  Scotland,  are  probably  not  the 
descendants  of  an  indigenous  wild  race.  It 
is  not  without  reluctance  that  the  belief  in 
their  wild  descent  has  been  abandoned.  But 
the  evidence  seems  fairly  conclusive  as  to 
the  antiquity  of  these  white  cattle,  regarded 
as  a  primitive  breed,  and  of  the  unlikelihood 
of  their  being  survivors  of  a  truly  wild  stock. 
They  are  almost  identical  in  many  points 
with  the  best  breeds  of  modern  cattle,  and 
probably  represent  the  finest  type  possessed 
by  the  ancient  inhabitants  of  these  islands. 
But  they  are  far  smaller  than  the  original 
WILD  Ox,  or  AUROCHS,  the  ancestor  of  our 
domestic  breeds.  The  skulls  of  these  large 
wild  oxen,  which  still  survived  in  the  Black  Forest  in  Caesar's  time,  have  been  dug  up  in 
many  parts  of  England,  especially  in  the  Thames  Valley,  and  may  be  seen  at  the  Natural 
.  History  Museum.  The  remains  of  the  extinct  wild  ox,  the  Bos  urns  of  the  Romans,  show 
that,  if  not  so  large  as  an  elephant,  as  Caesar  heard,  its  size  was  gigantic,  reckoned  by  any 
modern  cattle  standard  whatever.  It  probably  stood  6  feet  high  at  the  shoulder,  and  there 
is  every  reason  to  believe  that  it  was  the  progenitor  of  the  modern  race  of  domestic  cattle 
in  Europe.  It  seems  certain  that  the  Chartley  Park  herd  did  once  run  wild  in  Needwood 
Forest ;  but  so  do  the  Italian  buffaloes  in  the  Maremma,  and  the  Spanish  bulls  on  the  plains 
of  Andalusia.  Those  at  Chartley  have  been  kept  in  the  park,  which  is  very  wild  and  remote,  so 
long  that  they  have  gradually  lost 
many  of  the  attributes  of  domestica- 
tion. This  is  even  more  marked  in 
the  case  of  Lord  Tankervill's  white 
cattle  at  Chillingham.  An  observant 
visitor  to  Chillingham  lately  noted 
that  the  bulls  fight  for  the  possession 
of  the  cows,  and  that  one  is  occasion- 
ally killed  in  these  combats.  The 
cows  still  "  stampede "  with  their 
calves  when  alarmed,  and  hide  them 
for  a  week  or  ten  days  after  they  are 
born.  The  horns  of  the  Chillingham 
cattle  turn  up ;  those  of  the  bulls  of 
the  Chartley  herd  are  straight  or 
slightly  inclined  downwards.  Cross- 
breds  between  the  Chartley  cattle  and 
some  other  herds  of  reputed  ancient 
descent  may  generally  be  seen  at  the 
London  Zoological  Gardens.  They  CALF  OF  ENGLISH  PARK-CATTLE 

remain  remarkably  true  to  type.  Though  the  stock  is  -very  old  and  inbred,  the  -white  park-cattle  are  still  fairly  prolific 


THE    HOLLOW-HORNED     RUMINANTS          209 


Formerly  there  were 
several  other  herds  of  ancient 
white  cattle.  One  was  at 
Gisburne,  in  Yorkshire; 
another  at  Chatelherault  Park, 
in  Lanarkshire ;  and  records 
of  herds  at  Bishop  Auckland 
in  Durham,  Barnard  Castle, 
Blair  Athol, Burton  Constable, 
Naworth  Castle,  and  other 
ancient  peaks  are  preserved. 
Probably  all  were  of  a  breed 
highly  prized  in  ancient  days, 
which  was  allowed  the  run  of 
the  forests  adjacent  to  the 
homes  of  their  owners ;  then, 
as  the  forests  were  cleared, 
they  were  gradually  taken  up 
and  enclosed  inparks.  Another 
theory  is,  that  they  were  the 
white  cattle  of  North-western 
Italy,  imported  by  the  first  settlements  of  Italian  monks  after  the  conversion  of  the  Saxons. 


Phttt  b)  J.  T.  Ntwman 

JERSEY    COW 

Though  small  in  size,  the  Jtrsey  cows  produce  more  butter  than  any  English  breed 


SOME    DOMESTICATED    CATTLE 

THE  various  species  of  European  domestic  cattle  have  in  most  cases  been  brought  to  a 
degree  of  excellence  even  higher  than  that  which  might  be  expected  from  the  long  period  of 
time  in  which  their  improvement  has  been  an  object  of  solicitude  to  man.  Of  the  foreign 
races,  the  dark  red  cattle  of  the  Spanish  Peninsula  —  animals  which  have  been  exported  to  the 
Canary  Islands  and  Madeira  with  great  success  —  are  justly  famous.  The  white  oxen  of  North- 
east Italy  have  been  famous  since  the  days  of  the  Romans.  The  tall  long-horned  cattle  of 
Hungary  are  excellent  alike  as  beasts  of  draught  and  for  beef.  The  black-and-white  Dutch  cows 
are,  and  have  been,  the  mainstay  of  the  dairy  industry  of  Holland,  and  later  of  Denmark; 
while  the  small  Brittany  cows  are  perhaps  the  best  butter-producers  on  the  continent  of 
Europe.  But  England  and  the  Channel  Islands  may  justly  claim  to  rear  the  finest  cattle  of  the 

temperate  parts  of  the  world.  The  diminutive 
Jersey  cows,  now  reared  in  all  parts  of  the 
kingdom,  surpass  all  the  animals  of  Europe 
or  America  in  the  richness  of  their  milk, 
while  stock  from  the  pedigree  herds  of 
various  English  breeds  is  eagerly  sought  by 
foreign  and  continental  buyers  on  both  sides 
of  the  Atlantic,  and  in  New  Zealand  and 
Australia.  These  foreign  strains  need  constant 
replenishing  from  the  English  herds,  and  the 
result  is  a  golden  harvest  to  the  breeders  in 
these  islands. 

The  SHORTHORN  was  the  first  breed  to  be 
brought  to  perfection.  Two  main  stocks  — 
one  for  producing  beef,  the  other  for  the 
d  .  _  are  recognised  .  they  are  the  "  all- 

SPANISH    CATTLE  ',  ,         ,„  .    .      c  ,    ..   .         ., 

,       round  breed      most  in  favour,  and  it  is  said 

These  belontr  to  the  long-horned  race  of  Southern  and  Eastern  Europe.    In  .  ...  ,  , 

the  bulls  the  horns  are  shorter,  and  often  turn  doivnwardt  that   the    improvement    in    thlS   race    alone  has 

27 


210          THE    LIVING    ANIMALS    OF    THE    WORLD 


raised  the  value  of  average  Irish  store  cattle  $10  per  head  during  the  last  twenty  years.  The 
shorthorns  are  level-backed,  large  animals,  maturing  very  quickly.  The  commonest  colours  are 
roan,  white,  red,  and  red-and-white.  HEREFORD  CATTLE  are  red,  with  white  faces  and  long, 
upturned  horns;  they  fatten  quickly  on  good  grass,  and  are  in  most  demand  for  summer 
beef.  HIGHLAND  CATTLE  have  long  horns,  rough,  shaggy  coats,  and  bodies  of  moderate  size 
and  great  symmetry;  they  are  grazed  on  the  mountains  of  the  West  Highlands  mainly,  and 
fattened  in  the  south.  The  beef  is  of  the  finest  quality.  SUSSEX  CATTLE  are  an  "all  red" 
variety,  large,  and  formerly  much  used  for  draught  and  farm  work.  The  DEVOXS  are  another 
red  variety,  very  like  the  Sussex,  yielding  excellent  and  rich  milk,  and,  when  fattened,  being 
little  inferior  to  any  breed  as  beef.  The  long-horned  black  WELSH  CATTLE  grow  to  a  great 
size,  as  do  the  polled  AXGUS  breed  of  Scotland.  The  polled  or  hornless  cattle  include  the 
red  SUFFOLKS,  a  most  valuable  breed,  hardy,  and  wonderful  producers  of  milk.  The  cows 
often  give  milk  every  day  of  the  year.  The  LoNGHORX  breed  is  almost  disappearing,  as  the 

horns  are  a  disadvan- 
tage both  in  the  fields 
and  when  the  animals 
are  carried  on  board 
ship  or  in  the  train. 
The  HUMPED  CATTLE 
of  India  and  East  Africa 
belong  to  a  race  dif- 
ferent from  European 
cattle,  of  which  the 
parent  stock  is  not 
known.  They  have  a 
hump  upon  the  withers, 
drooping  ears  (a.  sign 
of  ancient  domestica- 
tion), and  a  very  large 
dewlap.  The  coat  is 
always  exquisitely  fine. 
They  are  of  all  sizes, 
from  the  tall  Brahminee 
bull  to  dwarf  breeds 
not  larger  than  a  New- 
foundland dog.  The 

commonest  colours  are  cream,  grey,  mouse-colour,  and  white.  They  do  not  low,  but  grunt, 
and  are  by  no  means  so  fond  of  shade  and  water  as  European  cattle. 

WILD   OXEN 

THIS  group  consists  of  the  GAUR  of  India ;  the  GAYAL  of  Assam,  which  is  possibly  a 
domesticated  form  of  the  gaur,  but  rather  smaller  in  size,  with  skull  and  horns  different  in 
character ;  and  the  BANTING,  a  lighter  and  more  slender  wild  ox,  of  which  different  varieties 
are  found  in  Burma,  in  Java  (where  it  is  kept  in  a  half-domesticated  condition;,  and  in 
Manipur. 

THE  GAUR 

The  GAUR,  the   so-called  INDIAN   BlSOX,  is  probably  the  largest  of  all  the  wild  be 
animals.     It   is   found    at   the    foot  of  the  North-eastern  Himalaya,  in  the  Central    Provinces 
of  India,  the  forests  of  Madras  and  Mysore,  and  in  parts  of  Burma  and  the  Malay  Peninsula, 
but  not   in    Ceylon.      Its   range   eastward    is   not   accurately  known.      In    habits   the  gaur  is 
mainly   a   forest   animal,    retiring   always   at   daybreak   into   the   depths   of   the    jungle. 
sometimes  attains  a  height  of  over  6  feet  at  the   shoulder,  and  a  length  of  9  feet  6  inches 


Ptutt  by  C.  W.  Wili*t  V  C..,  Ltd.. 


YOUNG    GAUR 

The  largest  and  handumett  if  the  -wild  oxen 


THE    HOLLOW-HORNED    RUMINANTS          211 

from  the  nose  to  the  tail.  The  colour  of 
the  fall-grown  gaur  is  dark  brown,  turning 
to  black;  the  legs  from  above  the  knees 
and  hocks  to  the  hoofs  are  white,  the 
hair  being  short  and  fine.  Its  horns  are 
upturned,  and  tipped  with  black,  with  white 
hair  covering  the  junction  on  the  top  of 
the  skull.  The  cows  are  much  smaller  than 
the  bulls,  standing  about  5  feet  high  at  the 
shoulder.  This  species  feeds  both  on  grass 
and  on  the  young  shoots  of  trees  and  of 
bamboos.  The  calves  are  dropped  in  August 
and  September.  The  pure-bred  animal  does 
not  appear  capable  of  domestication. 

Hunting  ganr  by  tracking  in  the  jungle 
has  long  been  a  frvourite  sport  of  Anglo- 
Indians.  General  Douglas  Hamilton  says: 
"I  have  lolled  bulk  mi  um^  6  feet  at 
the  shoulder,  and  the  average  height  of  the 

b  from  5  feet  8  inches  to  5  feet  10        **" 
An  old  bull  gaur  m  a  magnificat 

The  normal  colour  is  a  brownish  black,  sometimes  in  very  old 
quite  black.  The  white  stockings  reach  from  the  hoof  to  above  the  knee,  and  are  very 
conspicuous.  When  on  the  Anamahes,  I  had  a  grand  fight  with  a  big  bull.  I  was  out  early, 
and  came  on  the  spoor  of  bison,  and  soon  saw  two.  one  a  very  large  bull  To  my  disgust  lie 
lay  down,  and  was  completely  covered  by  creepers  and  bushes.  After  a  bit  I  attempted  to 
more  to  get  a  better  view ;  but  there  to  my  left  was  a  cow  bison  staring  at  me.  She  at  oace 
gave  the  alarm,  and  I  waited  for  the  large  bull  to  rise.  This  he  did  so  quickly,  and  disappeared 
so  suddenly,  that  1  only  got  a  snapshot.  As  I  stopped  to  load.  I  saw  a  young  calf  squatting 
at  the  foot  of  a  tree  Eke  a  hare,  intently  watching  me.  I  put  the  rifle  down,  crept  up 
behind  the  tree,  and  suddenly  threw  myself  on  the  little  calf,  and  managed  to  get  hold  of  its 
hind  legs,  but  it  got  from  under  me.  I  managed,  however,  to  tie  its  fore  legs  securely  by 
Means  of  some  slender  stems  from  the  creepers.  All  this  time  it  continued  to  below  and  to 
make  a  great  row.  and  I  fully  expected  to  see  the  mother  come  charging  down.  I  went  back 
to  the  bungalow,  and  got  some  men  to  bring  my  little  captive  home.  After  breakfast  I  started 
again,  and  got  on  the  track  of  the  bison.  ...  I  saw  some  branches  move,  and  on  looking 
carefully  perceived  a  large  bull  bison;  but  he  was  among  the  thick  bushes,  and  I  could  not 
see  his  outline.  I  guessed  as  nearly  as  possible  the  position  of  the  shoulder,  and  fired  the 
big  rifle  at  him.  He  gave  a  bound  forward,  and  then  vlpff*4  long  enough  far  vie  to  give  him 
a  shot  with  the  other  barrel.  .  .  .  The  next  moment  I  saw  the  buQ  standing  on  the  high 
gjfuni}  above  us.  I  fired  again,  and  hit  him  well  behind  the  thnalrinr.  He  liuhfrf  off.  but 
only  went  fifty  yards,  and  then  stopped.  I  walked  up.  thinking  to  finish  him.  when  he  made 
a  fearful  rush  at  me.  My  man  put  the  double  rifle  into  my  hands  and  then  bolted,  and  I 
thought  it  prudent  to  retire  and  await  my  opportunity.  But  be  only  moved  a  few  paces 
forward,  and  then  stopped.  Then  began  a  regular  siege  of  his  position.**  The  result  of  the 
siege  was  that  the  bison  received  four  more  bullets,  charged  and  routed  the  hunter  twice, 
and  then  walked  off.  It  was  shot  twice  more,  charged  again,  and  was  finally  killed  by 
General  Hamilton  with  his  hunting-knife  tied  to  a  bamboo  spear-pole. 

Considering  the  size  and  tenacity  of  life  of  the  ganr.  it  is  rather  wonderful  that  more 
accidents  do  not  occur  in  the  pursuit  of  this  animal ;  but  as  it  live*  mainly  in  thick  jna^f, 
where  large  trees  grow,  the  sportsman  has  more  chance  of  getting  out  of  sight  of  a  wounded 
animal  than  when  attacked  by  the  Indian  buffalo,  which  generally  haunts  jungles  of  high  grass. 


212          THE    LIVING    ANIMALS     OF    THE    WORLD 


THE  GAYAL 

The  doubt  whether  this  animal 
is  found  in  a  wild  state  has  recently 
been  considerably  increased.  It  is 
well  known  in  a  semi-domesticated 
condition,  in  which  it  is  kept  by 
the  tribes  in  and  around  the  Assam 
Valley,  where  the  wild  gaur  is  also 
found.  These  herds  roam  during  the 
day  freely  in  the  jungle,  and  return 
to  be  fed  at  the  villages.  It  has 
been  stated  that  wild  gayal  are 
enticed  to  join  the  tame  herds  by 


INDIAN    HUMPED   BULL 

The  hump  and  dewlap  mark  the  Oriental  cattle.      The  ears  are  often  more  drooping 
than  In  this  specimen 


mens  may  be  only  those  which  have 
belonged  to  or  have  descended  from 
the  domesticated  herd.  Gayal  have 
been  kept  in  England  not  only  in 
the  Zoological  Gardens  but  in  some 
parks,  and  crossed  with  English  cattle. 
The  offspring  furnished  excellent  beef,  but  were  rather  wild  and  intractable.  The  horns  of  the 
gayal  are  thicker  and  flatter  than  those  of  the  gaur,  and  placed  lower  on  the  skull  and  farther 
apart.  The  domesticated  gayal  stands  lower  than  the  gaur,  but  is  a  very  massive  animal. 

THE  BANTING 

The  common  wild  ox  of  the  Malay  countries  of  Borneo,  Java,  Eastern  Burma,  and 
northwards,  in  Manipur  resembles  the  European  oxen  rather  more  than  does  the  gaur.  In 
size  the  bulls  sometimes  reach  5  feet  G>\  inches.  The  old  bulls  are  black,  the  younger  bulls 
chocolate  red,  and  the  cows  a  bright  reddish  brown.  The  rump  is  marked  with  a  large  white 
patch,  and  all  have  white  stockings  from  above  the  knees  and  hocks  down  to  the  hoofs.  The 
tail  is  considerably  longer  than  in  the  gaur,  coming  well  below  the  hocks.  As  might  be 
expected  from  its  distribution,  the  size  of  this  animal  and  the  shape  of  the  horns  vary 
considerably  in  the  different  districts  which  it  inhabits.  In  Borneo  the  horns  often  curve 
forwards ;  in  Java  they  spread  outwards.  In  the  latter  island  large  herds  of  this  species  are 
kept  in  a  state  of  domestication.  When  wild,  banting  live  in  small  herds,  and  in  Burma 
feed  from  early  morning  until  ten  o'clock,  when  they  retire  into  the  jungle  for  shelter.  The 
Manipur  race  is  smaller  than  that  of  Burma  (of  which  the  males  are  not  black),  and  the  bulls 
have  not  the  white  rump. 

THE    YAK 

THE  YAK  is  naturally  an  inhabitant  of  the  very  high  plateaux  and  mountains  of  Tibet, 
where  the  climate  is  cold  and  the  air  excessively  dry.  Lower  down  on  the  Indian  side  of  the 
Himalaya  a  smaller  race  is  found  domesticated,  which  is  the  only  one  able  to  stand  the 
climate  of  India,  or  of  Europe,  where  it  is  now  kept  in  some  parks  as  a  curiosity.  The  tamed 
yaks  are  usually  much  smaller  than  the  wild ;  these  sometimes  reach  a  weight  of  between 
1,100  and  1,200  Ibs.  In  form  they  are  long  and  low,  very  massive,  and  with  hair  almost 
entirely  black ;  this  falls  off  along  the  sides  into  a  long  sweeping  fringe.  The  tail  is  thickly 
tasselled  with  fine  hair,  and  is  employed  by  Indian  princes  for  fly-flaps.  The  wild  yak  has 
large,  massive  black  horns,  curved  upwards  and  forwards  in  the  male.  In  Ladak  and  Chinese 
Tibet  the  yaks  inhabit  a  desolate  and  barren  country,  in  which  their  main  food  is  a  dry, 


THE    HOLLOW-HORNED    RUMINANTS          213 


coarse  grass,  on  which  they  nevertheless  contrive  to  keep  themselves  in  condition,  feeding  in 
the  mornings  and  evenings,  and  lying  down  by  day  to  rest  among  the  rocks. 

THE   BISON 

THE  BlSON  form  a  marked  group,  differing  from  others  of  the  Ox  Tribe.  They  possess 
fourteen  pairs  of  ribs,  while  the  oxen  have  only  thirteen  (the  yak  has  fourteen) ;  and  have  very 
heavy,  massive  heads,  broader  and  more  convex  foreheads  than  the  oxen,  longer  spinal  processes 
on  the  vertebrae  of  the  front  part  of  the  back,  and  larger  muscles  to  hold  the  ponderous  head, 
causing  a  hump,  which  in  the  American  bison  is  very  marked.  There  are  two  living  species 
of  bison,  one  of  which  is  found  in  Europe,  the  other  in  North  America. 

THE  EUROPEAN  BISON 

This  is  the  most  interesting  survival  of  the  primitive  fauna  of  the  Old  World.  It  is  still 
found  wild,  though  protected,  in  a  large  forest  in  Lithuania,  the  property  of  the  Czar  of  Russia, 
called  the  Forest  of  Bielowitza.  A  few  are  also  left  of  the  purely  wild  stock  in  the  Caucasus. 
Those  in  Lithuania  have  been  protected  for  several  centuries,  and  the  herd  is  numbered  from 
time  to  time.  In  1857  there  were  1,898  of  these  bison  left;  in  1882  there  were  only  600; 
in  1889  the  herd  had  sunk  to  380,  but  in  1892  it  had  risen  to  491.  The  presence  of 
the  bison  in  the  Caucasus  had  been  almost  forgotten  till  Mr.  Littledale  and  Prince  Demidoff 
gave  accounts  of  hunting  it  there  quite  recently.  The  ZUBR,  as  it  is  called,  only  survives 
in  some  very  inaccessible  parts  of  the  mountains,  preserved  by  the  Grand  Duke  Sergius 
Michaelovitch,  in  the  Kouban  district.  There  it  exists  as  a  really  wild  animal.  The  dimensions 
of  one  recently  shot  were  10  feet  from  the  muzzle  to  the  end  of  the  last  vertebra  of  the 
tail.  The  Grand  Duke  has  to  obtain  special  permission  from  the  Czar  to  shoot  one  whenever 
he  goes  to  the  Caucasus. 

This  bison  seems  to  have  been  an  inhabitant  of  most  of  the  forests  of  Europe  and 
Northern  Asia;  its  remains  show  that  it  existed  in  Britain,  and  it  was  plentiful  in  the  Black 
Forest  in  the  time  of  Caesar.  It  is  the  largest  of  all  European  quadrupeds,  measuring  as 
much  as  10  feet  I  inch  from  the  nose  to  the  root  of  the  tail,  and  standing  nearly  6  feet 
high  at  the  shoulder.  Prince  Demidoff  states  his  belief  that  it  is  found  on  the  southern 
slopes  of  the  Caucasus  Range  between  the  hills  and  the  Black  Sea.  The  weight  of  this  bison 
reaches  i./oolbs.  It  is  now 
rare  to  see  more  than  five 
or  six  together.  Though  the 
animal  is  so  massive,  its  horns 
are  rather  small  and  slender, 
and  curve  upwards.  The 
mane — which,  like  the  rest  of 
the  coat,  is  of  a  uniform  rich 
brown — is  thick  and  curly,  but 
not  developed  like  that  of  the 
American  bison. 

THE  AMERICAN  BISON 

The  American  bison  is 
the  western  representative  of 
the  bison  of  Europe.  The 
almost  complete  disappear- 
ance of  this  species  is  one  of 

the  warnings  against  reckless  INDIAN   HUMp£D   CATTLE 

destruction  of  animal  lite.    It 
was  formerly  found  in  millions  »«« ""  °ften  <aUed  ^"  ''"  Eurofe>  but  ilu  °"&n  if the  name "  unknown 


214         THE    LIVING    ANIMALS    OF    THE    WORLD 


[Regint't  Park 


Phttt  by  If.  P.  Dande] 

DOMESTICATED    YAK 

The  wild  bo-vine  animal  of  the  Central  Asian  plateau,  tamed  and  domesticated 


on  the  prairies,  and  its  meat  formed 
the  staple  food  of  the  Red  Indians, 
who  lived  on  the  flesh  and  used  the 
"  robes "  of  those  killed  in  winter 
for  great  coats  and  bedding.  When 
Audubon  went  up  the  Upper  Missouri, 
bison  were  in  sight  almost  through- 
out the  voyage ;  they  were  even 
carried  down  on  ice-flows  on  the  river. 
The  bulls  were  very  large,  and  were 
occasionally  savage,  especially  when 
attacked  and  wounded ;  but  usually 
they  were  harmless  animals.  Every 
winter  and  spring  they  made  migra- 
tions along  regular  routes  to  fresh 
pastures.  These  lines  of  travel  were 
then  black  with  bison.  The  females 
had  their  calves  by  their  sides,  and 
all  travelled  in  herds,  feeding  as 
they  went.  At  the  present  time  the 
only  remains  of  the  bison  are  the 
paths  they  left  on  the  prairies,  and 
their  bones  and  skulls.  The  paths 
are  still  distinctly  seen,  worn  by  the 
"  treks "  of  the  great  beasts  which 
have  now  perished.  The  bones  were  collected  in  stacks  and  sold  to  make  manure. 

President  Roosevelt,  in  an  article  contributed  to  "  The  Encylopaedia  of  Sport,"  thus  describes 
the  destruction  of  the  bison:  "Pursuit  by  sportsmen  had  nothing  to  do  with  the  extermination 
of  the  bison.  It  was  killed  by  the  hide-hunters,  redskin,  white,  and  half-breed.  The  railways, 
as  they  were  built,  hastened  its  destruction,  for  they  gave  means  of  transporting  the  heavy 
robes  to  market.  But  it  would  have  been  killed  out  anyhow,  even  were  there  no  railroads  in 
existence.  Once  the  demand  for  the  robes  became  known  to  the  Indians,  they  were  certain  to 
exterminate  it.  Originally  the  bison  ranged  from  the  Rocky  Mountains  to  the  Alleghanies,  and 
from  Mexico  to  the  Peace  River.  But  its  centre  of  abundance  was  the  vast  extent  of  grass  land 
stretching  from  the  Saskatchewan  to  the  Rio  Grande.  All  the  earlier  explorers  who  crossed 
these  great  plains,  from  Lewis  and  Clarke  onwards,  spoke  of  the  astonishing  multitudes  of  the 
bison,  which  formed  the  sole  food  of  the  Horse  Indians.  The  herds  were  pressed  steadily  back, 
but  the  slaughter  did  not  begin  till  after  the  Civil  War;  then  the  commercial  value  of  the 
robes  became  fully  recognised,  and  the  transcontinental  railways  rendered  the  herds  more 
accessible.  The  slaughter  was  almost  incredible,  for  the  bison  were  slain  literally  by  millions 
every  year.  They  were  first  exterminated  in  Canada  and  the  southern  plains.  It  was  not  till 
1883  that  the  last  herd  was  killed  off  from  the  great  north-western  prairies." 

The  height  of  a  fine  bull  American  bison  at  the  shoulder  is  6  feet.  The  horns  are 
short,  blunt,  and  curved,  and  set  farther  back  on  the  forehead  than  in  the  European  species. 
The  hindquarters  are  low  and  weak,  and  the  mane  develops  in  winter  into  a  thick  robe, 
covering  the  neck,  shoulders,  and  chest.  An  adult  bull  bison  was  found  to  weigh  1,727  Ibs. 
The  woodland  bison  of  Athabasca,  now  nearly  exterminated,  are  larger  than  the  prairie-bison, 
and  have  finer  coats.  In  1897  there  were  said  to  be  between  280  and  300  head  remaining 
in  two  herds. 

THE    BUFFALOES 

THE  BUFFALOES  are  so  far  distinct  from  other  wild  cattle  that  they  will  not  interbreed 
with  them ;  yet  one  species,  the  INDIAN  BUFFALO,  has  been  domesticated  for  a  long,  though 


Bj  firminim  «/  thi  Niw  Ttrlt  Z»l>gical  Sttittj 


AMERICAN    BULL    BISON 


TAe  American  bison  {locally  called  "  buffalo  "  )  it  lower  behind  than  its  European  brother  ;  but  the  ivithcrst  at  will  be  teen  from  the  photograph^ 

are  ttronger  and  more  maisi-ve,  and  itt  mane  considerably  longer 

215 


216      THE    LIVING    ANIMALS    OF    THE    WORLD 


EUROPEAN    BISON 

TAese  wild  animals  of  the  Caucasus  are  -very  much  scarcer  than  formerly ,  and  are  in  danger 

of  becoming  extinct 


unknown  period,  and  is 
among  the  most  valuable  of 
tame  beasts  of  draught,  as 
well  as  for  dairy  purposes. 
The  various  buffaloes  usually 
have  little  hair,  especially 
when  old,  and  have  flatter 
shoulders  than  the  gaur, 
gayal,  or  bison.  The  pairs 
of  ribs  number  thirteen. 

THE  AFRICAN  BUFFALO 

Great  differences  in  size 
and  colour  exist  in  the  AFRI- 
CAN BUFFALOES.  Whether 
they  are  separate  species  or 
not  may  be  doubtful;  but 
the  small  yellow  CONGO 
BUFFALO,  with  upturned  short 
horns,  is  a  vastly  different 
creature  from  the  large  black 
CAPE  BUFFALO.  There  is  also  an  Abyssinian  or  brown  race  of  African  buffalo,  and  another  in 
Senegambia  smaller  than  the  former,  and  a  reputed  grey  race  near  Lake  Tchad.  The  Cape 
buffalo  is  a  heavy,  thickset  animal,  all  black  in  colour,  with  large  massive  horns  covering  the 
skull,  and  nearly  meeting  in  the  middle  line  of  the  forehead.  In  height  it  varies  from  4  feet 
IO  inches  to  5  feet  at  the  shoulder.  This  species  ranges  from  South  Africa  to  the  Congo  on 
the  west,  and  to  the  region  of  the  Equator  on  the  east  of  the  continent.  Firearms,  and 
lately  rinderpest,  have  greatly  reduced  the  number  of  these  creatures.  They  live  and  feed 
in  herds,  and,  like  the  Indian  species,  are  fond  of  the  neighbourhood  of  water,  in  which  they 
bathe,  but  are  not  so  dependent  on  bathing  and  wallowing  as  the  former. 

Fully  as  formidable  as  the  Indian  buffalo,  and  much  like  it  in  habits,  the  African  species 
is  quite  distinct.  It  has  different  horns,  broad  at  the  base  and  curled  and  tapering  at  the 
ends.  Among  the  extreme  measurements  of  the  Indian  buffalo's  horns  recorded  is  one  of 
12  feet  2  inches  from  tip  to  tip  along  the  curve.  Those  of  the  African  buffalo  are  seldom 
more  than  6  feet,  measured  in  the  same  way.  By  far  the  greatest  number  of  hunting  accidents 
in  Africa  are  caused  by  the  buffalo.  Sir  Samuel  Baker  shot  a  buffalo  bull  one  evening  near 
the  White  Nile.  His  men  actually  danced  upon  the  body,  when  the  animal  rose  to  its  feet, 
and  sent  them  flying  into  the  river  like  so  many  frogs.  It  then  disappeared  in  the  thick 
vegetation.  On  the  following  day,  supposing  that  it  must  have  died  during  the  night,  thirty 
or  forty  men,  armed  with  double-barrelled  guns,  went  to  look  for  it.  The  result  was  thus 
recorded  by  Sir  Samuel  Baker:  "They  had  not  been  ashore  for  many  minutes  when  I 
first  heard  a  shot  and  then  a  regular  volley.  My  people  returned  with  the  head  of  the 
buffalo  and  a  large  quantity  of  meat,  but  they  also  carried  the  body  of  my  best  man,  who, 
when  leading  the  way  through  the  high  reeds,  following  the  traces  of  blood,  actually  stumbled 
upon  the  buffalo  lying  in  the  swamp,  and  the  light  guns  failed  to  stop  its  charge.  The 
crooked  horn  had  caught  him  behind  the  ear,  and,  penetrating  completely  through  the  neck, 
had  torn  out  the  throat  as  though  it  had  been  cut.  The  savage  beast  had  then  knelt  upon 
the  body,  and  stamped  it  into  the  muddy  ground,  until  it  fell  beneath  the  fire  of  thirty  men." 
The  head  and  body  of  a  male  Cape  buffalo  are  9  feet  long.  It  is  stated  that  the  parasite 
conveyed  by  the  tsetse  fly  remains  in  the  blood  of  the  buffalo  (which  is  not  affected  by  it), 
and  that  this  forms  a  reserve  whence  the  fly,  after  sucking  the  blood  of  the  buffalo,  poisons 
other  animals. 


THE    HOLLOW-HORNED    RUMINANTS 


217 


THE  CONGO  BUFFALO 

This  is  a  very  small  race,  the  height  at  the  shoulder  being  about  3  feet  6  inches.  The 
shape  of  the  horns  varies,  but  they  are  wrinkled  at  the  bases  and  flattened,  and  turn  upwards, 
ending  in  thin,  sharp  tips.  The  hair  is  bright  reddish  yellow.  It  is  entirely  a  West  African 
species.  Sir  Samuel  Baker  records  an  instance  in  which  his  brother  was  nearly  killed  by  a 
small  West  African  buffalo,  probably  one  of  the  species  in  question.  It  is  said  to  be  less 
gregarious  than  the  Cape  buffalo,  and  usually  found  in  pairs. 

THE  INDIAN  OR  WATER-BUFFALO 

Very  great  interest  attaches  to  this  animal,  if  only  from  the  fact  that  it  is  evidently  a 
species  domesticated  directly  from  the  wild  stock.  It  therefore  deserves  consideration  both  as 
a  wild  and  as  a  domesticated  animal.  It  is  found  wild  in  the  swampy  jungles  at  the  foot  of 
the  Himalaya,  in  the  Ganges  Delta,  and  in  the  jungles  of  the  Central  Provinces;  also,  it  is 
believed,  in  the  jungles  of  West  Assam.  Like  the  African  species,  it  is  an  animal  of  great 
size  and  strength,  with  short  brown  hair,  white  fetlocks,  and  immense  long,  narrow,  flattened 
horns.  It  is  almost  aquatic  by  preference,  passing  many  hours  of  each  day  wallowing  in  the 
water,  or  standing  in  any  deep  pool  with  only  the  tips  of  its  nostrils  and  its  horns  out  of 
the  water.  By  general  consent  it  is  the  most  dangerous  of  Indian  animals  after  the  tiger.  A 
buffalo  bull  when  wounded  will  hunt  for  its  enemy  by  scent  as  persistently  as  a  dog  hunting 
for  a  rabbit.  A  writer  in  Country  Life  lately  gave  an  account  of  a  duel  between  himself, 
armed  with  a  small  and  light  rifle,  and  a  buffalo  bull,  in  which  the  latter  hunted  him  for 
more  than  an  hour,  each  time  being  driven  off  by  a  shot  from  the  light  rifle,  and  each  time 
returning  to  the  search,  until  it  was  killed.  Sir  Samuel  Baker,  when  he  first  went  to  Ceylon, 
found  the  buffaloes  practically  in  possession  of  the  meadows  round  a  lake  in  the  neighbourhood 
of  his  quarters,  and  waged  a  war  of  extermination  against  the  bulls,  which  were  very  dangerous. 

r 


AMERICAN    BISON 

Notice  the  £ference  in  the  fore  and  kind  quarter!  of  thit  animal  and  the  European  representative  of  the  tame  group.       (See 
28 


218         THE    LIVING    ANIMALS    OF    THE    WORLD 


The  buffaloes  of  Ceylon 
are  the  same  as  those  of 
India,  but  the  horns  are 
inferior  in  size.  "  The  charge 
of  a  buffalo  is  a  serious 
matter,"  says  Sir  Samuel 
Baker.  "Many  animals  charge 
when  infuriated,  but  they  can 
generally  be  turned  aside  by 
the  stunning  blow  of  a  rifle- 
shot, even  if  they  be  not 
mortally  wounded.  But  a 
buffalo  is  a  devil  incarnate 
when  it  has  once  decided  on 
the  offensive ;  nothing  will 
turn  it.  It  must  be  actually 
stopped  by  death,  sudden  and 
instantaneous,  as  nothing  else 
will  stop  it.  If  not  killed, 
it  will  assuredly  destroy  its 
adversary.  Thereisnocreature 
in  existence  so  determined 
to  stamp  the  life  out  of  its 
opponents,  and  the  intensity 
of  its  fury  is  unsurpassed 
when  a  wounded  bull  rushes 
forward  upon  its  last  desperate 
charge.  Should  it  succeed  in 
overthrowing  its  antagonist,  it 
will  not  only  gore  the  body 

with  its  horns,   but  will   kneel  upon    the  lifeless  form,   and   stamp    it  with  its  hoofs  till  the 

mutilated  remains  are  beyond  recog- 
nition." 

The  true  Indian  buffalo  is  usually 

shot  from  the  back  of  an  elephant. 

Hunting  it   on  foot   is  dangerous  in 

the  extreme,  for  the  buffalo  can  crash 

through  obstacleswhich  would  prevent 

any  man  from  making  his  way  through 

them  when  escaping.     When  domesti- 
cated, the  Indian  buffalo  loses  most 

traces  of  its  savageness ;  it  is  habitually 

managed  by  the  children,  who  take 

the  herds  out  to  graze  in  the  jungle, 

and  drive  them  back,  often  riding  on 

one    of  the    bulls,   at    night.     They 

dislike   Europeans,    and    often    show 

this  by  attacking   them;   but   other- 
wise  they   are    quite   tame,  and  are 

docile  when   in  harness  or  carrying 

burdens.     The  buffalo's  milk  is  very 

rich,  and  makes  a  much  larger  per- 


CAPE    BUFFALO 

Notice  the  striking  difference  depleted  on  this  page  between  the    nvo  species  of  buffalo  —  the 

Indian  and  the  Cape 


DOMESTICATED    INDIAN    BUFFALO 


This  animal  is  found  as  a  wild  and  domesticated  species  in  India. 
at  a  blast  of  draught  and  for  the  dairy 


It  is  valuable 


THE    HOLLOW-HORNED    RUMINANTS 


219 


centage  of  butter  than  ordinary  cow's  milk.  So  useful  is  this  mud-  and  water-loving  animal 
in  all  swampy  districts,  that  wherever  rice  is  cultivated  it  is  almost  indispensable.  The 
result  is  that  the  Indian  buffalo  has  been  transported,  probably  in  comparatively  modern 
times,  to  many  distant  quarters  of  the  globe.  When  this  was  done  is  not  known ;  but  it  is 
probable,  for  instance,  that  it  was  not  known  in  Egypt  in  the  days  of  the  Pharaohs,  for  its 
form  never  appears  in  the  paintings  and  sculptures.  Now  it  is  seen  very  far  up  the  Nile,  and 
plays  an  important  part  in  Egyptian  agriculture ;  it  is  also  the  general  beast  of  burden  and 
for  the  dairy  in  the  Pontine  Marshes  of  Italy.  In  Spain  it  was  probably  introduced  by  the 
Arabs,  and  is  used  to  cultivate  the  marshy  plains  near  the  mouths  of  the  rivers  of  Andalusia; 
it  is  also  in  use  in  the  marshes  of  Hungary,  in  the  Crimea,  and  across  Western  Asia  to 
Afghanistan.  We  have  thus  the  curious  fact  that  a  wild  animal  once  confined  to  the  jungles 
of  the  Indian  Peninsula  is  now  domesticated  on  two  other  continents.  It  has  not  been 


A    PAIR    OF    ANOAS 

The  anoa  is  the  smallest  and  most  antelope-like  member  of  the  Ox  Tribt 

introduced  into  America  yet,  though  it  would  be  useful  in  the  Mississippi  swamps;  but  the 
Chinese  have  taken  it  to  the  Far  East,  and  established  it  as  their  favourite  beast  of  burden. 

THE  TAMARAU  AND  ANOA 

In  the  island  of  Mindoro,  in  the  Philippines,  a  small  black  buffalo,  with  upright,  slightly 
incurved  horns,  is  found  in  the  dense  forests.  The  height  at  the  shoulder  is  about  3  feet 
6  inches ;  a  few  irregular  marks  of  white  are  found  on  the  fore  legs,  face,  and  occasionally 
the  throat.  It  is  called  the  TAMARAU  by  the  natives,  most  of  whom  fear  to  attack  it.  Its 
habits  are  said  to  be  much  the  same  as  those  of  the  other  buffaloes ;  but  it  is  reputed  to  fight 
with  the  Indian  buffaloes  which  have  escaped  and  become  semi-wild  in  the  forests. 

In  Celebes  a  still  smaller  wild  forest-buffalo  is  found,  called  the  ANOA.  It  is  only  3  feet 
3  inches  high  at  the  shoulder,  and  has  upright,  almost  straight  horns.  The  general  colour 
is  brownish,  tinged  with  yellow,  that  of  the  adults  being  very  dark  brown  or  black.  Scarcely 
anything  is  known  of  its  habits. 


220         THE    LIVING    ANIMALS    OF    THE    WORLD 


THE   MUSK-OX 

THE  MUSK-OX  was  formerly 
found  in  immense  numbers  on 
the  barren  lands  and  other  regions 
bordering  on  the  Arctic  ice.  The 
hair  of  this  animal  reaches  almost 
to  the  ground,  and  the  horns  are 
large  and  massive.  At  present  it 
is  only  common  in  the  corner  of 
North  America  north  and  east  of 
a  line  drawn  from  Fort  Churchill, 
on  Hudson  Bay,  to  the  mouth  of 
the  Mackenzie,  and  on  the  adjacent 
islands  of  the  Arctic  Sea.  In 
former  Arctic  expeditions'the  flesh 
of  the  musk-oxen  was  a  great 
and  reliable  source  of  food.  Now 
some  pw'ts  of  the  herds  seem  to 
have  retired  inland,  and  in  the 
winter  to  become  mainly  forest- 
dwellers  ;  but  large  numbers  seem 
to  endure  the  coldest  parts  of  the 
Arctic  winter  in  the  open  country 
of  the  Far  North,  in  the  snows 
of  Grinnell  Land  and  of  Northern 
Greenland.  The  remains  of  musk- 
oxen  have  been  found  in  the  river 
gravels  of  the  Thames  Valley,  with 
those  of  the  reindeer  and  other 
northern  species.  The  musk-ox 

gallops  at  a  great  rate  of  speed  when  disturbed  in  the  open,  and  makes  as  little  of  a  steep 
mountain-side  as  does  the  wild  sheep.  When  fat,  the  flesh  is  very  tolerable  food ;  but  if  the 
animals  grow  thin,  the  taste  of  musk  is  very  unpleasant.  The  colour  of  the  coat  is  dark 
brown ;  it  is  now  in  great  demand  for  sledge-rugs  in  Canada.  This  remarkable  animal  appears 
to  be  a  form  standing  apart  both  from  the  oxen  and  the  sheep. 

* 

IT  will  be  seen  from  the  above  accounts  of  the  whole  wild  bovine  race  that  they  all  exhibit 
in  a  high  degree  many  of  the  traits  which  are'  seen  in  domesticated  animals  of  the  same 
tribe.  The  chief  differences  made  by  man's  selection  and  breeding  affect  the  form  of  the  body 
and  the  development  of  the  udder,  otherwise  there  is  no  great  modification,  except  the  production 
of  the  drooping  ear  in  some  of  the  Indian  species  of  domesticated  oxen.  No  wild  cattle  have 
the  level,  flat  back  and  rectangular  body  which  mark  all  the  best  shorthorns  and  other  breeds 
intended  for  beef.  In  the  Asiatic  and  Galla  humped  breeds,  the  races  which  first  domesticated 
the  original  wild  species  seem  to  have  used  the  long  processes  of  the  vertebrae  which  cause 
the  back  of  many  wild  cattle  to  form  a  hump  as  the  basis  of  a  valuable  feature,  the  hump 
becoming  as  it  were  another  joint  of  meat.  The  development  of  the  udder  has  for  untold 
centuries  been  the  object  of  the  breeders  of  cows ;  consequently  we  find  that  in  the  domesticated 
races  this  has  become  abnormally  large.  There  is  at  present  a  very  general  tendency  to  get 
rid  of  the  horns  among  all  breeds  of  high  quality,  as  these  appendages  cause  much  loss  by 
wounds  inflicted  by  cattle  upon  each  other ;  but  even  in  this  respect  sentiment  rather  tends  to 
preserve  the  horns  as  an  ornament  in  some  of  the  best  milking  breeds,  such  as  the  Jerseys. 


YOUNG   BULL   MUSK-OX 

The  musk-ox  is  nearly  allied  to  the  sheep.      It  is  about  the  size  of  Highland  cattle,  and 
inhabits  Arctic  America  and  Northern  Greenland 


CHAPTER    XIV 
THE   SHEEP  AND    GOATS 


THE    SHEEP 

THE  sheep  are  represented  at  the  present  time  by  several  wild  species,  one  of  which  is 
found  in  Northern  India  east  of  the  Indus,  in  the  Punjab,  and  in  Sind;  one  in 
North  America ;  and  another  in  North  Africa.  The  rest  inhabit  the  high  ground  of 
Europe  and  Asia  as  far  south  as  the  Himalaya.  These  mountains,  with  the  adjacent  plateaux 
of  the  Pamirs  and  the  great  ranges  of  Central  Asia,  form  the  main  home  of  the  group. 
Wild  sheep  are  of  various  types,  some  so  much  like  the  goats  that  it  is  difficult  to  draw  a 
hard-and-fast  line  between  them;  while  others,  especially  the  Curly-horned  Argalis,  Bighorns, 
Oorial,  and  Kamchatka  Wild  Sheep,  are  unmistakably  ovine  in  type.  The  wild  original  of 
the  domesticated  breeds  of  sheep  is  unknown ;  but  the  extreme  differences  between  various 
breeds  of  tame  sheep  —  as,  for  instance,  between  the  smooth-coated,  drooping-eared  breed  of 
Nubia  and  the  curly-horned,  woolly  sheep  of  Dorsetshire  —  must  not  be  allowed  to  divert  the 
attention  from  the  considerable  likeness  of  habit  which  still  remains  between  other  breeds 
and  the  wild  species.  Domesticated  sheep  which  live  on  hills  and  mountains  are  still  inclined 
to  seek  the  highest  ground  at  night.  The  rams  fight  as  the  wild  rams  do,  and  many  of  them 
display  activity  and  powers  of  climbing  and  of  finding  a  living  on  barren  ground  scarcely  less 
remarkable  than  in  the  wild  races. 
The  apparent  absence  of  wool  in 
the  latter  does  not  indicate  so 
great  a  difference  as  might  be 
thought.  The  domesticated  sheep 
have  been  bred  by  artificial  selection 
for  unnumbered  ages  in  order  to 
produce  wool.  It  is  said  that  in 
some  of  the  wild  breeds  there  is 
an  under-fur  which  will  "  felt "  like 
wool.  Most  of  the  species  are  short- 
tailed  animals,  but  this  is  not  the 
case  with  the  Barbary  wild  sheep. 
Wild  sheep  are  mainly 
mountain-living  animals  or 
frequenters  of  high  ground.  They 
generally,  although  not  always, 
frequent  less  rugged  country  than 
that  affected  by  the  wild  goats,  and 
some  are  found  at  quite  low  levels. 
The  altitude  at  which  other  wild 
sheep  are  found  is,  however,  very 
great;  on  the  Pamirs  it  reaches  '*•'• 

20,000  feet.     Here   the   country  is 
quite  open. 


h  «•  T.  tru,™  &  c,.,  Ltd. 

YOUNG   BARBARY   SHEEP 

Note  the  length  of  the  tail  at  compared  with  other  iv  ild  iheep 


221 


222          THE    LIVING    ANIMALS    OF    THE    WORLD 


THE  EUROPEAN  MOUFFLON 

The  only  wild  sheep  of  Europe  is  the  MOUFFLON,  found  in  the  mountains  of  Corsica  and 
Sardinia.  Its  height  at  the  shoulder  is  about  27  inches.  In  the  rams  the  horns  are  strong, 
and  curved  into  a  spiral,  forming  almost  a  complete  circle.  The  hair  is  close,  and  in  winter 
has  a  woolly  under-fur.  In  summer  and  autumn  the  coat  is  a  bright  red-brown  on  the  neck, 
shoulders,  and  legs';  the  rump  and  under-parts  are  whitish,  and  the  back  and  flanks  marked  with 
a  white  saddle.  In  winter  the  brown  becomes  darker  and  the  white  saddle  broader.  A  rather 
larger  moufflon  is  found  on  Mount  Elburz  in  Persia,  in  Armenia,  and  in  the  Taurus  Mountains. 
A  smaller  variety  exists  in  Cyprus,  where  it  has  been  preserved  since  the  British  occupation. 
The  moufflon  is  a  typical  wild  sheep.  In  Sardinia  and  Corsica  are  dense  scrubby  forests  of 
tall  heather,  some  5  feet  high.  This  maquia  is  practically  impenetrable  to  hunters.  When 
alarmed,  the  moufflon  dash  into  it,  and  are  safe.  The  maquia  has  preserved  two  very  interesting 
survivals  of  antiquity  —  the  moufflon,  and  the  Corsican  or  Sardinian  bandit.  The  Corsican  bandit, 

like  the  moufflon  of  the  same  island, 
is  nearly  extinct.  In  Sardinia  both 
flourish.  Many  sportsmen  have  had 
their  first  taj£e  of  big-game  shooting 
in  the  diffic^m  pursuit  of  the  moufflon 
on  the  Sardinian  mountains.  Some 
declare  that  the  sport  is  so  fascinating 
that  they  have  seldom  found  much 
to  equal  it  since.  Mr.  S.  H.  Whit- 
bread,  whose  notes  in  "The  Ency- 
clopaedia of  Sport "  are  very  full  on 
this  subject,  deems  that  the  best 
season  to  stalk  moufflon  is  in  October 
or  November.  The  animals  are  then 
less  disturbed  by  shepherds  and  dogs, 
and  the  moufflon  are  on  the  move 
and  more  easily  seen  during  the  day 
than  in  summer,  when  they  feed  at 
night  and  rest  or  sleep  by  day. 

There  is  a  small  herd  of  moufflon 
running  wild  in   one  of  the  English 


f  *o/o  by  W.  P.  Dando 

SIBERIAN    ARGALI 

One  of  the  large  -wild  sheep  of  Central  Asia 


parks.     They   have  a   specially  built 
"  mountain-top  "  of  stone  to  make  a 

home  of,  but  are  free  to  feed  where  they  like  in  the  park.  They  produce  lambs  yearly.  It  is 
an  interesting  sight  to  see  the  quick  rush  of  the  little  flock,  when  frightened,  to  their  sheltering- 
place,  led  by  an  old  white  saddled  ram. 

THE  ARGALIS 

The  ARGALIS  are  the  largest  of  all  living  wild  sheep.  Some  measure  from  3  feet  9  inches 
to  4  feet  at  the  shoulder.  The  horns  are  broad,  corrugated,  and  curling  in  the  male,  and 
in  the  female  short,  erect,  and  curving  backwards.  The  male  TIBETAN  ARGALI  has  a  ruff  on 
the  throat.  The  usual  colour  is  a  stony  grey,  mingled  with  white  in  the  summer  in  the  case 
of  the  old  males.  The  name  is  applied  collectively  to  several  wild  sheep  found  in  Northern 
and  Central  Asia.  Whether  these  are  only  varieties  or  separate  species  it  is  difficult  to  say; 
but  the  following  are  some  of  the  most  marked  forms. 

The  SIBERAIN  ARGALI  is  the  characteristic  wild  sheep  of  the  rocky  hills  and  mountains  of 
Southern  Siberia,  the  Altai  Mountains,  and  Northern  Mongolia.  The  horns  curve  so  as  to  form 
more  than  a  complete  circle;  the  upper  parts  are  tinged  with  grey,  and  the  lower  are  white.. 


THE    SHEEP    AND     GOATS 


223 


BARBARY    SHEEP 

That  fine  wild  sheep  are  found  in  the  Atlas  and  Aures  Mountains  of  North  Africa 


The  TIBETAN  ARGALI  is  a  little 

smaller    in    size,    and     has    slightly 

smaller  horns.     The  rams  have  also 

a    large   white    ruff   on    the    throat. 

These  sheep  descend  in  winter  to  the 

lower  valleys  of  the  Tibetan  plateau, 

returning    to    the    higher    ground  in 

spring.     The  lambs  are  born  in  May 

or  June. 

LlTTLEDALE'S     SHEEP    is    a 

smaller    animal,    found    on    the    Sair 

Mountains  in  the  Great  Altai,  on  the 

northwestern  border  of  Mongolia.     It 

is  darker  in  colour  than  the  argali  or 

Marco    Polo's    sheep,    and    has  dark 

under-parts. 

Writing  of  the  argali  of  Southern 

Siberia,    the    naturalist    Brehm    says 

that  when  the  Tartars  want  mutton 

an    argali    hunt    is    organised.      The 

Tartar  hunters  advance  on  their  horses 

at  intervals  of  200  or  300  yards,  and 

when  the  sheep  are  started  generally 

manage,  by  riding,  shooting,  coursing  them  with  dogs,  and    shouting,  to  bewilder,  shoot,  or 

capture  several. 

On  the  high  plateau  of  the  Pamirs  and    the  adjacent   districts  MARCO  POLO'S  SHEEP  is 

found.     The  rams  are  only  slightly  less  in  size  than  the  Siberian  argali ;  the  hair  is  longer  than 

in  that  species,  and  the  horns  are  thinner  and  more  slender  and  extend  farther  in  an  outward 

direction.     An  adult  ram  may  weigh  300  Ibs.     The  first  description  of  this  sheep  was  given 

by  the    old  traveller   whose    name    it  now  bears.     He   said    that  on   the    Pamir  plateau   wild 

animals  are  met  with  in  large  numbers, 
particularly  a  sheep  of  great  size, 
having  horns  three,  four,  and  even 
six  palms  in  length.  The  shepherds 
( ?  hunters)  form  ladles  and  vessels 
from  them.  In  the  Pamirs,  Marco 
Polo's  sheep  is  seldom  found  at  less 
than  1 1,000  or  12,000  feet  above  the 
sea.  In  the  Thian-shan  Mountains 
it  is  said  to  descend  to  2,000  or 
3,000  feet.  They  prefer  the  hilly, 
grassy  plains,  and  only  seek  the  hills 
for  safety.  On  the  Pamirs  they  are 
said  to  be  very  numerous  in  places, 
one  hunter  stating  that  he  saw  in 
one  day  not  less  than  600  head. 

THE  BIGHORN  SHEEP  OF  AMERICA 

AND   KAMCHATKA 
North  America  has  its   parallel 
to  the  argalis  in  the  famous  BIGHORN. 
It  is  now  very  rare  even  in  Northern 


BARBARY    SHEEP 

Thii  shows  a  Jine  ram,  -with  a  mane  reaching  almost  to  its  hooft 


224         THE    LIVING    ANIMALS    OF    THE    WORLD 


at  various 
Mountains 
In  habits 
other 


as 


Canada,  and  becoming  scarce  in  the 
United  States,  though  a  few  are 
found  here  and  there 
points  on  the  Rocky 
as  far  south  as  Mexico. 
it  is  much  the  same 
wild  sheep — that  is  to  say,  it 
haunts  the  rock-hills  and  "  bad 
lands  "  near  the  mountains,  feeding 
on  the  scanty  herbage  of  the  high 
ground,  and  not  descending  unless 
driven  down  by  snow. 

The  bighorn  sheep  are  very 
partial  to  salt.  Mr.  Turner 
Turner,  who  hunted  them  in 
East  Kooteney,  says :  "  Wild  sheep 
make  periodical  excursions  to  the 
mountain-tops  to  gorge  themselves 
with  salty  clay.  They  may  remain 
from  an  hour  to  two  days,  and 
when  killed  their  stomachs  will 
be  found  full  of  nothing  but  the 
clay  formed  from  denuded  lime- 
stone, which  they  lick  and  gnaw  until  sometimes  deep  tunnels  are  formed  in  the  cliffs,  large 
enough  to  hide  six  or  seven  sheep.  The  hunter,  standing  over  one  of  these  warrens,  may 
bolt  them  within  two  yards  of  him.  In  the  dead  of  winter  sheep  often  come  to  the  woods  to 
feed  on  fir-trees.  At  such  times  they  may  be  seen  mixed  with  black-and-white-tailed  deer, 
low  on  a  river-bank.  I  have  known  them  come  within  forty  yards  of  an  inhabited  hut." 

While  on  the  subject  of  the  fondness  of  sheep  and  deer  for  salt,  we  may  mention  an 
anecdote  told  by  Mr.  H.  C.  Nelson  in  Country  Life.  He  was  sleeping  with  two  other  friends 
in  a  hut  in  the  mountains  where  some  miners  had  lived  for  a  time.  These  men,  when 
they  washed  up  their  pots  and  pans,  threw  the  slops  away  at  a  certain  place  close  by  the 
hut.  As  all  water  used  for  cooking  meat  has  salt  put  into  it,  a  little  salt  remained  on  the 
surface.  This  the  wild  deer  had  found  out,  and  were  in  the  habit  of  coming  to  lick  it  at 
night.  Mr.  Nelson  had  a  shot  at  one  some  twenty  yards  from  the  hut. 

The  bighorn  sheep  stands  from  3  feet  2  inches  to  3  feet  6  inches  at  the  shoulder.  The 
horns  are  of  the  general  type  of  the  argalis,  but  smoother.  Another  bighorn  is  found  in 
Kamchatka.  There  is  also  a  beautiful  white  race  of  bighorn  inhabiting  Alaska.  The  typical 
Rocky  Mountain  race  is  browner  than  the  Asiatic  argalis,  and  in  winter  is  dark  even  beneath 
the  front  parts  of  the  body.  It  is  not  found  on  the  high  peaks  of  the  great  ranges,  but  on 
difficult  though  lower  ground  on  the  minor  hills. 


l-hittt  by  J.  U'.  Me  Lilian 


BURHAL    WILD    SHEEP 

Sometimes  called  the  Blue  Sheep.      They  have  a  wide  range  both  on  the  Himalaya  and 
north  of  those  mountains 


THE  OORIAL 

The  vast  range  of  the  Himalaya  affords  feeding-ground  to  other  species  of  wild  sheep 
and  wild  goat,  so  different  in  the  shape  of  the  horns  that  the  variations  of  the  ovine  race 
under  domestication  need  not  be  matter  for  wonder  when  so  much  variety  is  seen  in  nature. 

The  OORIAL,  or  SHA,  is  found  in  North-west  India,  on  the  Trans-Indus  Mountains,  and 
in  Ladak,  Northern  Tibet,  Afghanistan,  Baluchistan,  Turkestan,  and  Southern  Persia.  The 
horns  make  a  half-curve  backwards,  and  are  flattened.  The  angle  with  the  horizontal  line 
across  the  ears  is  about  half  a  right  angle.  The  coat  is  of  a  reddish-brown  colour,  with  white 
on  the  belly,  legs,  and  throat.  This  species  has  a  very  wide  geographical  distribution,  and  is 
the  only  wild  sheep  found  in  India  proper. 


THE    SHEEP    AND    GOATS 


225 


THE  BARBARY  SHEEP,  AOUDAD, 

OR  ARUI 

This  is  a  large  wild  sheep  of 
the  North  African  highlands.  The 
old  rams  have  a  very  fine  appearance, 
with  a  long  flowing  beard  or  mane, 
and  large  horns.  These  wild  sheep, 
though  somewhat  goat-like  in  appear- 
ance, are  typical  of  their  race  in 
general  habits.  They  live  in  the 
Atlas  Range,  and  in  the  splendid 
heights  of  the  Aures  Mountains,  which 
lie  at  the  back  of  Algeria  and  fringe 
the  great  Sahara  Desert.  In  the 
isolated  and  burning  rocks  which  jut 
up  in  the  desert  itself  into  single 
mountains  they  are  also  found,  living 
on  ground  which  seems  absolutely 
destitute  of  water,  grass,  or  vegetation. 
They  live  singly  or  in  small  families ; 
but  the  rams  keep  mainly  alone. 
Sometimes  they  lie  in  shallow  caves 
during  the  heat  of  the  day.  These 
caves  smell  like  a  sheep-fold.  More 
generally  the  sheep  repose  on  some 
shelf  of  rock,  where  they  exactly 
match  the  colour  of  the  stone,  and 
are  invisible.  The  ground  is  among 
the  most  difficult  in  which  any  hunt- 
ing is  attempted,  except  perhaps  in 


Photo  b,  J.r.  frwman-}  [B,rkham,t.d 

PUNJAB   SHEEP 

Thil  it  an  example  of  one  of  tht  breedi  -which  carry  no  woo.  whatever 


chamois  stalking;  but  the  pursuit  seems  to  fascinate  sportsmen.     Mr.  A.  E.  Pease  recently 

gave  some  charming  descrip- 
tions of  the  silence,  the  rugged 
rocks,  and  the  astonishing 
views  over  the  great  orange 
Sahara  Desert  seen  from  the 
tops  of  these  haunts  of  the 
Barbary  sheep — mountains  on 
the  summits  of  which  his  Arab 
guides  would  prostrate  them- 
selves in  evening  prayer  as 
the  sun  sank  over  the  desert, 
and  then,  rising,  once  more 
resume  the  chase.  The  young 
lambs  of  the  Barbary  sheep 
are  charming  little  creatures, 
more  like  reddish  kids.  They 
can  follow  the  mother  over  the 
steepest  ground  at  a  great 
LN.rth  F,«MV  pace.  When  caught,  as  they 

Photo  b)  L.  Midland,  F.Z.S.]  .  ,          A        , 

FAT-TAILED  SHEEP  sometimes  are  by  the  Arabs, 

The  fat  tail  of  tbi.  .beef  vat  considered  by  Charle,  Darvin  a,  due  to  degeneration  they  SOOtt  become  tame.    The 

29 


226      THE    LIVING    ANIMALS    OF    THE    WORLD 


Phott  by  W.  P.  Dandt] 


[Rigent'i  Park 


FOUR-HORNED    SHEEP 


There  are  several  breeds  of  these  sheep,  some  from  China,  some  from  Iceland,  and  others  from 

South  Africa 


tail  is  longer  than  in  other 
wild  sheep,  and  in  the  males 
a  large  mane  covers  the  chest. 


THE  BURHAL,  OR  BLUE  SHEEP 

This  species  possibly  indi- 
cates the  transition-point  from 
the  sheep  to  the  goats.  It 
was  pointed  out  by  Mr.  Brian 
Hodgson  that  it  had  certain 
features  more  like  the  goats 
than  the  sheep,  and  later 
other  writers  laid  stress  on 
structural  differences  of  the 
same  kind,  both  in  skull  and 
horns.  It  has  not  the  dis- 
agreeable odour  of  the  goats ; 
but  the  black  markings  which 
separate  the  white  of  the  belly 
from  the  brown  of  the  flanks,  and  run  down  the  front  of  the  legs,  are  like  those  seen  on  some  goats. 
The  horns  rise  in  a  curve  outwards  and  downwards.  The  largest  are  only  some  30  inches  long. 
Burhal  are  perhaps  the  commonest  of  all  Asiatic  wild  sheep.  They  inhabit  the  whole 
length  of  the  higher  Himalayan  Range,  and  are  found  over  and  round  the  Central  Asian  plateau 
as  far  north  as  Yarkand.  The  horns  make  two  half-moons  at  right  angles  to  the  skull.  Unlike 
some  of  the  other  wild  sheep,  burhal  often  climb  the  very  highest  ground  of  all.  Much  of 
the  best  burhal  ground  is  above  17,000  feet  high,  and,  as  Mr.  Whitbread  remarks,  this  alone 
makes  the  chase  of  such  an  animal  difficult.  As  in  the  moufflon,  the  mutton  is  excellent. 
There  is  no  difficulty  whatever  in  taming  these  wild  Himalayan  sheep ;  those  in  the  Zoological 
Gardens  are  practically  domesticated. 

DOMESTICATED  SHEEP 

Under  domestication  sheep  exhibit  a  wide  variety  of  coat,  shape,  and  size,  very  striking 
to  the  eye,  and  very  important  in  regard  to 
the  produce  of  wool  or  mutton.  The  intro- 
duction of  a  particular  breed,  with  long  wool 
or  short  wool  as  the  case  may  be,  has  often 
saved  or  altered  for  a  time  the  economic 
condition  of  a  colony  or  province.  It  was 
the  introduction  of  the  sheep  which  gave 
Australia  first  rank  among  the  rich  colonies 
of  the  world ;  and  the  discovery  that  the 
Cheviot  breed  would  thrive  on  the  Scotch 
hills  made  millions  of  acres  remunerative 
which  might  otherwise  have  been  very  un- 
productive. But  the  only  important  change 
in  the  structure  of  the  sheep  in  domestica- 
tion is  the  lengthening  of  the  tail.  The 
carcase  may  be  fat  mutton  or  thin  mutton, 
the  wool  long  or  short,  fine  or  coarse ;  but 
the  sheep  itself  remains  true  to  type,  and  of 
much  the  same  docile  habits,  under  all  the 


changes  of  the  breeders. 


Photo  by  J.  T.  Ntwman"] 

SOUTH    DOWN    SHEEP 

The  finest  breed  of  down-sheep 


i  Berlhamited 


THE    SHEEP    AND    GOATS 


227 


We  may  first  say  a  word  or  two  as  to  foreign  breeds  of  sheep,  especially  those  of  the  East. 
Some  of  these  resemble  the  wild  breeds  in  having  smooth  coats  and  almost  no  wool.  The  SOMALI 
SHEEP,  for  instance,  yield  no  wool  useful  for  felting  or  spinning.  They  have  drooping  ears  and 
black  heads.  Some  of  the  finest  natural  wool  is  developed  by  a  white  sheep  in  Tibet.  The  fur 
is  usually  sold  as  Tibetan  lamb.  The  wool  is  exactly  like  white  floss-silk.  When  cured  by 
the  Chinese,  the  leather  is  like  white  kid,  with  this  flossy  wool  attached. 

In  India  and  Persia  the  sheep  is  sometimes  used  as  a  beast  of  burden.  Mr.  Lockwood 
Kipling,  in  his  "  Beast  and  Man  in  India,"  says :  "  Borax,  asafoetida,  and  other  commodities 
are  brought  into  India  on  the  backs  of  sheep  in  bags.  The  flocks  are  driven  in  large  numbers 
from  Tibet  into  British  territory.  One  of  the  sensations  of  journeying  in  the  hills  of  the 
'  interior,'  as  the  farther  recesses  of  the  mountains  are  called  by  Anglo-Indians,  is  to  come 
suddenly  on  such  a  drove,  as  it  winds,  with  the  multitudinous  click  of  little  feet,  round  the 


Photo  h  W.  Rtitf] 


,  N.B. 


MERINO    RAMS 

The  bat  -wool-producing  sheep.      Imported  from  Spain  to  Australia 


shoulder  of  some  Himalayan  spur.  The  coarse  hair  bags  scrape  the  cliffside  from  which  the 
narrow  path  is  built  out  or  hollowed,  and  allow  but  scant  room  for  your  pony,  startled  by  the 
hurry  and  the  quick-breathing  rush  of  the  creatures  as  they  crowd  and  scuffle  past.  Only 
the  picturesque  shepherds  return  from  these  journeys.  The  carriers  of  the  caravan  (*.  e.  the 
sheep),  feeding  as  they  go,  gather  flesh  in  spite  of  their  burdens,  and  provide  most  excellent 
mutton.  ...  In  the  towns  of  the  plains  rams  are  kept  as  fighting  animals.  A  Mohammedan 
swell  going  out  for  a  stroll  with  his  fighting-ram  makes  a  picture  of  foppery  not  easily 
surpassed  by  the  sporting  '  fancy'  of  the  West.  The  ram  is  neatly  clipped,  with  a  judicious 
reservation  of  the  salient  tufts,  tipped  with  safifrpn  and  mauve  dye,  and  besides  a  large  collar 
of  blue  beads  it  wears  a  necklace  of  hawk-bells." 

The  FAT-TAILED  SHEEP  of  Persia  and  Tartary  exhibits  a  curious  provision  of  nature.    Wher, 
food  is  plentiful,  a  quantity  of  fat  accumulates  on  the  tail  and  croup.     As  the  pasture  dries  up 
and  the  animal  finds  little  food,  this  store  of  fat  is  gradually  absorbed.     Another  fat-ta.le 
sheep   is   found  from  Syria  and  Egypt  to  the   Cape.    This  has  a  long  tail   reaching  to  t 


228 


THE    LIVING    ANIMALS    OF    THE    WORLD 


ground.  In  the  Egyptian  breed  the  tail  is 
broad  throughout ;  in  the  Syrian  it  narrows 
to  a  point.  The  ordinary  weight  of  the 
Syrian  sheep's  tail  is  15  Ibs.;  but  in  some 
well  fattened  examples  it  reaches  70  or 
80  Ibs.  Ludolph  saw  in  Egypt  a  sheep's  tail 
of  80  Ibs.  weight.  This  overgrown  tail  is  a 
great  encumbrance  to  the  animal.  In  order 
to  lighten  the  burden,  the  shepherds  fasten 
under  it  a  small  board,  sometimes  with  wheels 
attached,  to  make  it  easy  to  draw  over  the 
ground. 

In  Greece,  Wallachia,  and  Western  Asia 
a  fine  breed  of  sheep,  quite  different  from 
the  English  forms,  is  seen.  It  is  called  the 
WALLACHIAN  SHEEP.  When  the  Zoological 
Gardens  were  first  founded  here,  some  of 
these  sheep  were  introduced  and  crossed  with 
English  breeds.  The  horns  are  tall  spirals, 
as  in  the  great  kudu  antelope.  The  body 
is  large,  and  the  fleece  long  and  straight, 
and  more  like  that  of  the  long-haired  goats 
than  curly  wool. 

There  are  now  few  countries  in  the 
world  to  which  sheep  have  not  been  intro- 
duced. They  were  probably  among  the 
earliest  animals  to  be  domesticated.  Cer- 
tainly they  are  the  first  to  be  mentioned ; 

for  we    learn   that  "  Abel  was   a   keeper   of  sheep,"  while    Cain   tilled    the   earth.     The   feud 

between  the  keeper  of  flocks  and  the  grower  of  crops 

typified  in  this  ancient  quarrel  still  goes  on  wherever 

the   wild   mountain   breeds    of  sheep    are   kept,   for 

there  is  of  necessity  always  danger  that  the  wander- 
ing sheep  may  raid  the  plots  of  corn.     In  Spain  a 

curious  and  ancient  set  of  laws  regulates  the  passage 

of  the  flocks    to    and  from    the    mountain   pastures 

through  the  corn-lands. 

It  is  said  that  the  name  of  the  famous  breed  of 

Spanish  sheep  known  as  MERINOS  recalls  their  foreign 

origin  from  across  the  sea,  and  that  they  were  originally 

imported  into  Spain  from  England.     Whether  that  be 

so  or  not,  it  is  certain  that  no  one  could  recognise 

them  now.    The  finest  merino  sheep,  especially  those 

bred    in    Australia,    into    which    country    they   were 

imported  some  forty  years  ago,  look  as    if  covered 

with  a  dense  growth  of  moss.     The  close  wool  grows 

not  only  on  their  backs,  sides,  and  bellies,  but  on  legs, 

forehead,  and  nose.     There  are  believed   to   be    ten 

millions    of  merino  sheep  in  Spain,  most   of  which 

are   migratory.     They  are    called  "  transhumantes," 

and   are   taken    from   the    plains   to   the    mountains 

and  from  the  mountains  to  the  plains  yearly.     These 


Photo  by  J.  T.  Ntwman] 

BLACK-FACED    MOUNTAIN-SHEEP 

The  sheep  of  the  high  mountains  and  heather-moors 


Photo  by  J.  f. 


mm 

[Btrkhamsttd 


LEICESTER    EWE 

A  heavy  t  long-ivoolled  breed 


THE    SHEEP    AND    GOATS 


229 


"  transhumantes  "  are  divided  into  flocks,  each  under  a  head  shepherd,  or  "  majoral."  The 
flocks  follow  the  shepherds,  who  lead  the  way,  and  direct  the  length  and  speed  of  the  journey. 
A  few  wethers,  trained  to  the  business,  follow  the  shepherds,  and  the  rest  come  in  due  order. 
Powerful  dogs  accompany  them  as  guards.  This  system  of  sheep  migration  is  controlled  by 
a  tribunal  termed  the  Mesta.  It  can  be  traced  back  to  the  middle  of  the  fourteenth  century. 
By  it  persons  are  prohibited  from  travelling  along  the  course  of  the  route  pursued  by  the 
flocks  so  long  as  they  are  on  the  road.  It  also  maintains  the  right  for  the  flocks  to  graze 
on  all  the  open  or  common  land  that  lies  in  the  way.  Moreover,  it  claims  a  path  ninety 
yards  wide  through  all  enclosed  and  cultivated  country.  The  length  of  the  journey  is  over 
400  miles,  which  is  accomplished  in  six  or  seven  weeks.  The  system  works  greatly  to  the 
injury  of  local  cultivators  and  stationary  flocks,  whose  fields  are  injured  by  the  migratory  sheep. 


Phot,  by  W.  R,i,f] 


[JTUkm,  N.B. 


CROSS-BRED    SHEEP 

Tht  clati  af  theep  keft  mainly  on  cultivated  land  in  the  North  Midlands 


In  England  are  reared  the  finest  and  most  valuable  sheep.  This  is  evident  from  the 
prices  paid  for  them  by  foreigners  and  breeders  in  our  colonies.  Except  for  merinos,  no 
one  comes  to  any  other  country  but  this  when  about  to  seek  new  blood  for  their  flocks  or 
to  stock  new  lands.  Recently  1,000  guineas  were  paid  by  a  firm  in  Argentina  for  a  single 
Lincoln  ram. 

Differences,  well  marked  and  of  great  importance,  exist  between  our  different  breeds.  Each 
suits  its  own  district,  and  each  is  carefully  improved  and  kept  pure  by  herd-books,  in  which  all 
pedigree  animals  are  entered. 

The  "general  utility  sheep"  in  England  is  the  SOUTH  DOWN;  in  Scotland,  the  BORDER 
LEICESTER.  The  former  is  a  small,  fine  sheep,  with  close  wool,  and  yielding  excellent  mutton. 
It  provides  the  meat  sold  in  our  best  shops,  and  has  largely  stocked  New  Zealand.  The 
original  breed  of  England  was  possibly  the  COTSWOLD ;  it  is  a  tall,  long-woolled,  white-fleeced 


230 


THE    LIVING    ANIMALS    OF    THE    WORLD 


Phott  b}  J.  T.  Ntwman] 

LONK    RAM 

This  is  a  photograph  of  the  largest  sheep  on  record 


[Birihamsttd 


sheep.  Later  a  large  heavy 
sheep,  with  long  wool  and  a 
massive  body,  was  bred  in 
the  Midlands,  and  called 
the  LEICESTER  LONG-WOOL. 
This  sheep  gives  a  great  cut 
of  wool,  and  much  coarse 
mutton.  The  CHEVIOT  SHEEP, 
originally  bred  on  the  hills  of 
that  name,  is  now  one  of  the 
mainstays  of  the  Scotch  moun- 
tain farmer.  The  Cheviots 
eat  the  grass  on  the  high 
hillsides,  while  the  BLACK- 
FACED  HIGHLAND  SHEEP 
live  on  the  heather  higher 
up.  The  SUFFOLK,  OXFORD, 
HAMPSHIRE,  and  other 
"  Down "  sheep  are  larger 
breeds  than  the  South  Down. 
The  ROMNEY  MARSH  SHEEP 
are  a  heavy  long-woolled 
breed.  The  ExMOORS  are 

small  heather-sheep  like  those  of  Wales,  and  the  SOA  and  ST.  KILDA  SHEEP,  which  are  often 

four-horned,  the  smallest  of  all. 

The  maintenance  of  flocks  is  now  almost  an  essential  part  of  English  agriculture  on  all 

chalk  lands,  which  comprise  a  very  large  percentage  of  the  southern  counties.     On  the  chalk 

downs  the  flocks  are  the  great  fertilisers  of  the  soil.     Every  night  the  sheep  are  folded  on 

the  fields  which  are  destined  to  produce  corn  in  the  following  year.     The  manure  so  left  on 

the  soil  ensures  a  good  crop,  with  no  expense  for  carting  the  fertiliser  from  the  farmyard,  as 

is  the  case  with  manure  made  by  oxen  kept  in  straw-yards. 

On  the   South   Downs,   Oxfordshire    Downs  or  Chiltern  Hills,  Salisbury  Plain,    and   the 

Berkshire  Downs  the  farms  have  been  mainly  carried  on  by  the   aid   of  the  flocks.     Where 

these  are  no  longer  kept  the  land  reverts  to  grass,  and  the  growing  of  corn  ceases.     On  the 

coarse,  new-sown  grasses  cattle  take  the  place  of  sheep,  and  an  inferior  style  of  farming,  like 

the  ranches  of  South  America,  replaces  the 

careful  and  highly  skilled  agriculture  of  Old 

England.     In  the  far  north  of  Scotland  cross- 
bred sheep  are  now  reared  and  fed  in  winter 

on  turnips,  which  will  grow  luxuriantly  where 

the  climate  is  too  bleak  and  wet  for  wheat. 
Formerly  cattle  were  the  main  source 

of  wealth  to  the  owners  of  Highland  estates. 

The   sheep  was    only  introduced    after    the 

Highlands   were   subdued    subsequently    to 

the   rebellion  in    1745.     It  was    found    that 

the  rough-coated  heather-sheep  throve  on  the 

wet    and    elevated   hills.     This  led  to  their 

substitution  for  cattle,  as  wool  was  then  dear. 

Sheep  are  now  in  their  turn  giving  way  to 

grouse  and  deer  over  much  of  the  Central  WELSH   EWES 

Highlands,  as  the  price  of  wool  has  fallen.  Ismail  breed  of  bill-sheep 


[Btrihamitid 


THE    SHEEP    AND    GOATS 


231 


Photo  by  E.  Lander] 

FEMALE   ANGORA    GOAT 

The  breed  from  -which  mohair  it  obtained 


[Eating 


THE  GOATS 

Though  the  dividing-line  between 

the  Sheep  and  Goats  is  very  indistinct, 

some  differences  are  of  general  appli- 
cation.    The  goats   are  distinguished 

by  the  unpleasant  "  hircine  "  odour  of 

the  males,  and  by  beards  on  the  chins 

of  the  same  sex,  by  the  absence  of 

glands  in  the  hind  feet,  which  sheep 

possess,  and  by  certain  variations  in 

the    formation     of    the    skull.     The 

difference  between    the   temperament 

of  the  sheep  and  goats  is  very  curious 

and    persistent,    showing    itself    in    a 

marked  way,  which  affects  their  use 

in  domestication  to  such  a  degree  that 

the  keeping  of  one  or  the  other  often 

marks    the   owners    as    possessors  of 

different  degrees  of  civilisation.    Goats 

are  restless,  curious,  adventurous,  and 

so   active  that    they  cannot   be    kept 

in    enclosed   fields.     For   this   reason 

they  are  not  bred  in  any  numbers  in 

lands  where  agriculture    is    practised 

on  modern  principles ;   they  are  too  enterprising  and  too  destructive.     Consequently  the  goat  is 

usually  only  seen  in  large  flocks  on  mountain  pastures  and  rocky,  uncultivated  ground,  where 

the  flocks  are  taken  out  to  feed  by  the  children. 

On  the  high  alps,  in  Greece,  on  the  Apennines,  and  in  Palestine  the  goat  is  a  valuable 

domestic  animal.     The  milk,  butter,  and  cheese,  and  also  the  flesh  of  the   kids,  are  in  great 

esteem.    But  wherever  the  land  is  enclosed,  and  high  cultivation  attempted,  the  goat  is  banished, 

and  the  more  docile  and  controllable 
sheep  takes  its  place.  In  Syria  the 
goat  is  perhaps  more  docile  and  better 
understood  as  a  dairy  animal  than 
elsewhere  in  the  East.  The  flocks  are 
driven  into  Damascus  in  the  morning; 
and  instead  of  a  milk-cart  calling,  the 
flock  itself  goes  round  the  city,  and 
particular  goats  are  milked  before  the 
doors  of  regular  customers. 

The  EUROPEAN  GOAT  is  a  very 
useful  animal  for  providing  milk  to 
poor  families  in  large  towns.  The 
following  account  of  its  present  uses 
was  recently  published :  "  The  sheep, 
while  preserving  its  hardy  habits  in 
some  districts,  as  on  Exmoor,  in  Wales, 
and  the  Highlands,  adapts  itself  to 
richer  food,  and  acquires  the  habits  as 
well  as  the  digestion  of  domestication. 

Tbest  goatt  -were  originally  obtained  from  Turkey  in  Asia,  and  exported  to  South 

Africa 


Phtt,  bj  E.  Landor] 


ANGORA    RAM 


The  goat  remains,  as  in  old  days,  the 


232         THE    LIVING    ANIMALS    OF    THE    WORLD 


enemy  of  trees,  inquisitive,  omnivorous,  pugnacious.  It  is  unsuited  for  the  settled  life  of  the 
English  farm.  Rich  pasture  makes  it  ill,  and  a  good  clay  soil,  on  which  cattle  grow  fat,  kills  it. 
But  it  is  far  from  being  disqualified  for  the  service  of  some  forms  of  modern  civilisation  by  the 
survival  of  primitive  habits.  Though  it  cannot  live  comfortably  in  the  smiling  pastures  of  the 
low  country,  it  is  perfectly  willing  to  exchange  the  rocks  of  the  mountain  for  a  stable-yard  in 
town.  Its  love  for  stony  places  is  amply  satisfied  by  the  granite  pavement  of  a  '  mews,'  and 
it  has  been  ascertained  that  goats  fed  in  stalls  and  allowed  to  wander  in  paved  courts  and  yards 
live  longer  and  enjoy  better  health  than  those  tethered  even  on  light  pastures.  In  parts  of 
New  York  the  city  goats  are  said  to  flourish  on  the  paste-daubed  paper  of  the  advertisements, 
which  they  nibble  from  the  hoardings.  It  is  beyond  doubt  that  these  hardy  creatures  are 
exactly  suited  for  living  in  large  towns;  an  environment  of  bricks  and  mortar  and  paving- 
stones  suits  them.  Their  spirits  rise 
in  proportion  to  what  we  should  deem 
the  depressing  nature  of  their  sur- 
roundings. They  love  to  be  tethered 
on  a  common,  with  scanty  grass  and 
a  stock  of  furze-bushes  to  nibble.  A 
deserted  brick-field,  with  plenty  of 
broken  drain-tiles,  rubbish-heaps,  and 
weeds,  pleases  them  still  better. 
Almost  any  kind  of  food  seems  to 
suit  them.  Not  even  the  pig  has  so 
varied  a  diet  as  the  goat ;  it  consumes 
and  converts  into  milk  not  only  great 
quantities  of  garden  stuff  which  would 
otherwise  be  wasted,  but  also,  thanks 
to  its  love  for  eating  twigs  and  shoots, 
it  enjoys  the  prunings  and  loppings 
of  bushes  and  trees.  In  the  Mont 
d'Or  district  of  France  the  goats  are 
fed  on  oatmeal  porridge.  With  this 
diet,  and  plenty  of  salt,  the  animals 
are  scarcely  ever  ill,  and  never  suffer 
from  tuberculosis;  they  will  often 
give  ten  times  their  own  weight  of 
milk  in  a  year." 

The  Kashmir  shawls  are  made  of 
the  finest  goats'  hair.  Most  of  this 
very  soft  hair  is  obtained  from  the 
under-fur  of  goats  kept  in  Tibet,  and 
by  the  Kirghiz  in  Central  Asia.  Only 
a  small  quantity,  averaging  3  ozs.,  is  produced  yearly  by  each  animal.  The  wool  is  purchased 
by  n-.iddlemen,  and  taken  to  Kashmir  for  manufacture. 

In  India  the  goat  reaches  perhaps  the  highest  point  of  domestication.  The  flocks  are  in 
charge  of  herd-boys,  but  the  animals  are  so  docile  that  they  are  regarded  with  no  hostility 
by  the  cultivators  of  corn  and  cereals.  Tame  goats  are  also  kept  throughout  Africa.  The 
valuable  ANGORA  breed,  from  which  "  mohair  "  is  obtained,  is  now  domesticated  in  South  Africa 
and  in  Australia.  In  the  former  country  it  is  a  great  commercial  success.  The  animals  were 
obtained  with  great  difficulty,  as  the  Turkish  owners  did  not  wish  to  sell  their  best-bred 
goats;  but  when  once  established  at  the  Cape,  it  was  found  that  they  proved  better  producers 
of  mohair  than  when  in  their  native  province  of  Angora.  The  "  clip  "  from  their  descendants 
steadily  improves. 


I 


Phott  by  E.  Lander]  [Eaiing 

BRITISH    GOAT 

A  much-neglected  breed  in  this  country.      Note  the  shape  of  this  animal 


THE    SHEEP    AND    GOATS 


233 


By  firminitn  of  P.  Thomai,  Eiq. 

FEMALE   TOGGENBURG   GOAT 

These  goats  are  milk-goats  par  excellence  ;  they  remain  in  profit  for  at  least  ten 
months  in  the  year.  Each  goat  produces  on  an  average  from  I/O  to  120  gallons  of 
milk  during  the  year 


WILD   GOATS 

THE  TUR 

In  the  Caucasus,  both  east  and 
west,  in   the  Pyrenees,  and   on   the 
South  Spanish  sierras  three  fine  wild 
goats,  with  some  features  not  unlike 
the  burhal  sheep,  are  found.     They 
are    called    TUR    by  the    Caucasian 
mountaineers.     The  species  found  in 
the  East  Caucasus  differs  from  that 
of  the  west  of  the    range,  and  both 
from    that    of    Spain.      The    EAST 
CAUCASIAN  TUR  is  a  massive,  heavy 
animal,  all  brown  in  colour  (except  on 
the    fronts   of    the    legs,    which    are 
blackish),  and  with  horns  springing 
from  each  side  of  the  skull  like  half- 
circles.     The  males  are  38  inches  high 
at  the  shoulder.    The  short  beard  and 
tail  are  blackish,  and  there  is  no  white 
on  the  coat.     The  WEST  CAUCASIAN 
TUR  is  much  lighter  in  colour  than 
that  of  the  East  Caucasus,  and  the 
horns  point  backwards,  more  like  those 
of  the  ibex,  though  set  on  the  skull 
at  a  different  angle.     The    SPANISH 
TUR  has  the  belly  and  inner  sides  of 
the    legs  white,  and  a  blackish    line 
along  the    flank,   dividing  the  white 
from  the  brown ;  also  a  blackish  chest, 
and  some  grey  on  the  flank. 

In  the  Caucasus  the  tur  are 
found  on  the  high  crags  above  the 
snow-line  in  summer,  whence  they 
descend  at  night  to  feed  on  patches 
of  upland  grass ;  but  the  main  home 
of  the  tur  by  day  is  above  the  snow- 
line.  The  Spanish  species  modifies  its 
habits  according  to  the  ground  on 
which  it  lives.  Mr.  E.  N.  Buxton 
found  it  in  dense  scrub,  while  on  the 
Andalusian  sierras  it  frequents  bare 
peaks  10,000  feet  high.  In  Spain 
tur  are  sometimes  seen  in  flocks  of 

B)  firmiiitin  if  P.  Tntmai,  EIIJ. 

from  100  to  150  each. 

STUD  TOGGENBURG  GOAT 

THE  PERSIAN  WILD  GOAT 

The  original  of  our  domesticated 
goat  is  thought  by  some  to  be  the 
PASANG,  or  PERSIAN  WILD  GOAT.  It  is  a  fine  animal,  with  large  scimitar-shaped  horns,  curving 
backwards,  flattened  laterally,  and  with  knobs  on  the  front  edge  at  irregular  intervals.  It  is 
more  slender  in  build  than  the  tur,  light  brown  in  general  colour,  marked  with  a  black  line 
3° 


This  breed  originally  came  from  Switzerland1,  tut  is  now  -well  known  in 
England.  The  animals  are  Jine  in  tone,  have  a  long,  thin  neck,  with  two  tassel- 
like  appendages 


234 


THE    LIVING    ANIMALS    OF    THE   WORLD 


along  the  nape  and  back,  black  tail,  white  belly,  blackish  shoulder-stripe,  and  a  black  line 
dividing  the  hinder  part  of  the  flank  from  the  white  belly.  Formerly  found  in  the  islands  of 
South-eastern  Europe,  it  now  inhabits  parts  of  the  Caucasus,  the  Armenian  Highlands,  Mount 
Ararat,  and  the  Persian  mountains  as  far  east  as  Baluchistan.  A  smaller  race  is  found  in  Sind. 
It  lives  in  herds,  sometimes  of  considerable  size,  and  frequents  not  only  the  high  ground,  but 
the  mountain  forests  and  scrub,  where  such  cover  exists.  The  domesticated  goat  of  Sweden  is 
said  to  be  certainly  a  descendant  of  this  species. 

THE  IBEX 

Of  the  IBEX,  perhaps  the  best  known  of  all  the  wild  goats,  several  species,  differing 
somewhat  in  size  and  in  the  form  of  their  horns,  are  found  in  various  parts  of  the  Old  World. 
Of  these,  the  ARABIAN  IBEX  inhabits  the  mountains  of  Southern  Arabia,  Palestine,  and  Sinai, 


B)  fermission  of  P.  Thomas,  Ely. 


SCHWARTZALS   GOAT 


A  large,  long-haired  breedt  which  derives  its  name  from  its  peculiar  colour,  the  fore  part  of  the  body  being  black  and  the  hinder  part  -white. 

These  goats  are  good  milkers 

Upper  Egypt,  and  perhaps  Morocco.  The  ABYSSINIAN  IBEX  is  found  in  the  high  mountains  of 
the  country  from  which  it  takes  its  name.  The  ALPINE  IBEX  is  now  extinct  in  the  Swiss 
Alps  and  Tyrol,  but  survives  on  the  Piedmontese  side  of  Monte  Rosa.  The  ASIATIC  IBEX  is 
the  finest  of  the  group ;  its  horns  have  been  found  to  measure  54!  inches  along  the  curve. 
This  ibex  inhabits  the  mountain-ranges  of  Central  Asia,  from  the  Altai  to  the  Himalaya,  and 
the  Himalaya  as  far  as  the  source  of  the  Ganges. 

The  King  of  Italy  is  the  great  preserver  of  the  ALPINE  IBEX,  and  has  succeeded  where 
the  nobles  of  the  Tyrol  have  failed.  The  animals  are  shot  by  driving  them,  the  drivers  being 
expert  mountaineers.  The  way  in  which  the  ibex  come  down  the  passes  and  over  the  precipices 
is  simply  astonishing.  One  writer  lately  saw  them  springing  down  perpendicular  heights  of 
40  feet,  or  descending  "  chimneys  "  in  the  mountain-face  by  simply  cannoning  off  with  their 
feet  from  side  to  side.  Young  ibex  can  be  tamed  with  ease,  the  only  drawback  to  their 
maintenance  being  the  impossibility  of  confining  them,  They  will  spring  on  to  the  roof  of 


THE    SHEEP    AND    GOATS 


235 


a  house,  and  spend  the  day  there  by  prefer- 
ence, though  allowed  the  run  of  all  the  premises. 
The  kids  are  generally  two  in  number ;  they 
are  born  in  June. 

The  ibex  was  long  one  of  the  chief 
objects  of  the  Alpine  hunter.  The  Emperor 
Maximilian  had  a  preserve  of  them  in  the 
Tyrol  mountains  near  the  Aachen  Sea;  these 
he  shot  with  a  cross-bow  when  they  were 
driven  down  the  mountains.  Sometimes  they 
were  forced  across  the  lake.  A  picture  in 
his  private  hunting-book  shows  the  Emperor 
assisting  to  catch  one  in  a  net  from  a  boat. 
He  notes  that  he  once  shot  an  ibex  at  a 
distance  of  200  yards  with  a  cross-bow,  after 
one  of  his  companions  had  missed  it  with  a 
gun,  or  "  fire-tube."  When  away  on  an  ex- 
pedition in  Holland,  he  wrote  a  letter  to  the 
wife  of  one  of  the  most  noted  ibex-poachers 
on  his  domain,  promising  her  a  silk  dress  if 
she  could  induce  her  husband  to  let  the 
animals  alone.  In  the  Himalaya  the  chief 
foes  of  the  ibex  are  the  snow-leopard  and 
wild  dog. 

THE  MARKHOR 

The  very  fine  Himalayan  goat  of  this 
name  differs  from  all  other  wild  species.  The 
horns  are  spiral,  like  those  of  the  kudu  I 


Phott  by    S.    G,    Paym,    Jjliiburj,    bj  pirmttiitn    if 
RtthsMld 


II  i 


YOUNG    MALE   ALPINE   IBEX 

The  photograph  shows  the  corrugated  horns  of  the  malt 


MALE   ALPINE   IBEX 

The  finest  wild  goat  of  Europe,  formerly  common  on  the,  Swiss  dips, 
now  only  on  a  limited  area  t/n  the  Italian  side 

antelope  and  Wallachian  sheep.  It  may  well 
be  called  the  king  of  the  wild  goats.  A 
buck  stands  as  much  as  41  inches  at  the 
shoulder,  and  the  maximum  measurement  of 
the  horns  is  63  inches,  or  over  5  feet!  It 
has  a  long  beard  and  mane,  and  stands  very 
upright  on  its  feet.  Besides  the  Himalaya, 
it  haunts  the  mountains  on  the  Afghan 
frontier.  The  markhor  keep  along  the  line 
between  the  forest  and  snow,  some  of  the 
most  difficult  ground  in  the  hills.  The  horns 
are  a  much-prized  trophy. 

THE  TAHR 

The  TAHR  of  the  Himalaya  is  a  very 
different-looking  animal  to  the  true  goats, 
from  which,  among  other  characters,  it  is 
distinguished  by  the  form  and  small  size 


236         THE    LIVING    ANIMALS    OF    THE    WORLD 


By  firmission  of  P.  Tftcmai,  Esq. 

NUBIAN    GOAT 

These  goats  come  from  Nubia  and  Upper  Egypt.  They  are  generally  hornless 
mud  short-haired}  the  colour  "varies,  being  sometimes  black,  and  sometimes  tan  and 
spotted. 


of  the  horns.  The  horns,  which  are 
black,  spring  in  a  high  backward 
arch,  but  the  creature  has  no  beard. 
A  buck  stands  sometimes  as  much  as 
38  inches  high  at  the  shoulder.  It 
has  a  long,  rough  coat,  mainly  dark 
stone  colour  in  tint. 

Tahr  live  in  the  forest  districts 
of  the  Middle  Himalaya,  where  they 
are  found  on  very  high  and  difficult 
ground.  General  Donald  Macintyre 
shot  one  standing  on  the  brink  of 
an  almost  sheer  precipice.  Down  this 
it  fell,  and  the  distance  in  sheer 
depth  was  such  that  it  was  difficult 
to  see  the  body  even  with  glasses. 
The  tahr  is  fairly  common  all  along 
the  higher  Himalayan  Range.  Its 
bones  are  believed  to  be  a  sovereign  j 
cure  for  rheumatism,  and  are  exported  j 

to  India  for  that  object.     A  smaller  kind  is  found  in  the  mountains  of  Eastern  Arabia,  where    ; 

very  few,  even  sportsmen,  have  yet  attempted  to  shoot  them. 

THE  NILGIRI  TAHR,  OR  NILGIRI  IBEX 

Though  not  an  ibex,  the  sportsmen  of  India  early  gave  this  name  to  the  tahr  of  the 
Nilgiri  and  Anamalai  Hills.  The  Himalayan  species  is  covered  with  long,  shaggy  hair;  the 
South  Indian  has  short,  smooth  brown  hair. 

"  The  ibex,"  says  Hawkeye,  the  Indian  sportsman,  of  this  animal,  "  is  massively  formed, 
with  short  legs,  remarkably  strong  fetlocks,  and  a  heavy  carcase,  short  and  well  ribbed  up, 
combining  strength  and  agility  wonderful  to  behold.  Its  habits  are  gregarious,  and  the  does 
are  seldom  met  with  separate  from  the  flock  or  herd,  though  males  often  are.  The  latter 
assume,  as  they  grow  old,  a  distinctive  appearance.  The  hair  on  the  back  becomes  lighter, 
almost  white  in  some  cases,  causing  a  kind  of  saddle  to  appear ;  and  from  that  time  they 
become  known  to  the  shikaries  as  the  saddle-backs  of  the  herd,  an  object  of  ambition  to 
the  eyes  of  the  true  sportsman.  It  is  a  pleasant  sight  to  watch  a  herd  of  ibex  feeding 
undisturbed,  the  kids  frisking  here  and  there  on  pinnacles  or  ledges  of  rock  and  beetling 
cliffs  where  there  seems  scarcely  safe  hold  for  anything  much  larger  than  a  grasshopper,  the 
old  mother  looking  calmly  on.  Then  again,  see  the  caution  observed  in  taking  up  their 
resting  or  abiding-places  for  the  day,  where  they  may  be  warmed  by  the  sun,  listening  to 
the  war  of  many  waters,  chewing  the  cud  of  contentment,  and  giving  themselves  up  to  the 
full  enjoyment  of  their  nomadic  life  and  its  romantic  haunts.  Usually,  before  reposing,  one 
of  their  number,  generally  an  old  doe,  may  be  observed  gazing  intently  below,  apparently 
scanning  every  spot  in  the  range  of  her  vision,  sometimes  for  half  an  hour  or  more, 
before  she  is  satisfied  that  all  is  well,  but,  strange  to  say,  seldom  or  never  looking  up  to 
the  rocks  above.  Then,  being  satisfied  on  the  one  side,  she  follows  the  same  process  on  the 
other,  and  eventually  lies  down  calmly,  contented  with  the  precautions  she  has  taken. 
Should  the  sentinel  be  joined  by  another,  or  her  kid  come  and  lie  by  her,  they  always  lie 
back  to  back,  in  such  a  manner  as  to  keep  a  good  look-out  to  either  side.  A  solitary 
male  goes  through  all  this  by  himself,  and  wonderfully  careful  he  is;  but  when  with 
the  herd  he  reposes  in  security,  leaving  it  to  the  female  to  take  precautions  for  their 
joint  safety." 


ITALIAN    GOAT 

From  the  earliest  Roman  Jays  these  goats  have  been  the  main  form  of  livestock  kept  by  the  mountaineers  of  the  Apennines 

237 


I  fin-nut 


238         THE    LIVING    ANIMALS    OF    THE    WORLD 


ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  GOAT 

America  possesses  only  one  species  of  wild 
goat,  the  place  of  this  genus  being  taken  in  the 
southern  part  of  the  continent  by  the  camel-like 
guanacos.  The  ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  GOAT,  the  North 
American  representative  of  the  group,  is  a  some- 
what anomalous  creature.  It  has  very  few  of  the 
characteristics  of  the  European  and  Asiatic  species. 
In  place  of  being  active  in  body  and  vivacious 
in  temperament,  it  is  a  quiet,  lethargic  creature, 
able,  it  is  true,  to  scale  the  high  mountains  of  the 
North-west  and  to  live  among  the  snows,  but  with 
none  of  the  energetic  habits  of  the  ibex  or  the 
tahr.  In  form  it  is  heavy  and  badly  built.  It  is 
heavy  in  front  and  weak  behind,  like  a  bison.  The 
eye  is  small,  the  head  large,  and  the  shoulders 
humped.  It  feeds  usually  on  very  high  ground ; 
but  hunters  who  take  the  trouble  to  ascend  to  these 
altitudes  find  little  difficulty  in  killing  as  many  wild 
goats  as  they  wish.  These  goats  are  most  numerous 
in  the  ranges  of  British  Columbia,  where  they  are 
found  in  small  flocks  of  from  three  or  four  to 
twenty.  Several  may  be  killed  before  the  herd  is 
thoroughly  alarmed,  possibly  because  at  the  high 
altitudes  at  which  they  are  found  man  has  seldom 
disturbed  them.  None  of  the  domesticated  sheep 
or  goats  of  the  New  World  are  indigenous  to  the 
continent  of  America.  It  is  a  curious  fact,  well 
worth  studying  from  the  point  of  view  of  the  history 
of  man,  that,  with  the  exception  of  the  llama,  the 

dog,  and  perhaps  the  guinea-pig,  every  domesticated  animal  in  use  from  Cape  Horn  to  the 

Arctic  Ocean  has  been  imported.     The  last  of  these  importations  is  the  reindeer,  which,  though 

the  native  species  abounds  in  the  Canadian  woods,  was  obtained  from  Lapland  and  Eastern  Asia. 
The  history  of  this  effort  at  acclimatisation  is  curious,  and  maybe  quoted  in  this  connection. 

When  the  first  rush  to  Klondike  was  made,  the  miners  were  imprisoned  and  inaccessible  during 

the  late  winter.     The  coming  of  spring  was  the  earliest  period  at  which  communication  could 

be  expected. to  be  restored,  and  even  then 

the  problem  of  feeding  the  transport  animals 

was  a   difficult   one.     The    United    States 

Government  decided  to  try  to  open  up  a 

road  from  Alaska  by  means  of  sledges  drawn 

by  reindeer,  and  the  Canadian  Government 

devised  a  similar  scheme.    Agents  were  sent 

to  Lapland  and  to  the  tribes  on  the  western 

side  of  Bering  Sea,  and  deer,  drivers,  and 

harness   obtained    from    both.     The    deer 

were  not  used  for  the  Klondike  relief  ex- 
peditions by  the  Americans  ;  but  theanimals 

and  their  drivers  were  kept  in  Alaska,  native 

reindeer  were  caught,  and  the  latest  news  of         **"* h  Ml"  E'  7'  B'ck 

the  experiment  is  that  the  deer  were  found  HIMALAYAN   TAHR   AND   YOUNG 

Very  useful  for  Carrying  the  mails  in  winter.  The  typical  representative  of  the  short-horned  -wi/J  goats 


Photo  by  Mist  E.  7.  Beck 

ROCKY   MOUNTAIN    GOAT 

This  is  one  of  the  few  animals  -which  are  white  at  all 
seasons  of  the  year.  The  horns  and  hoofs  are  jet-black, 
forming  a  striking  contrast  to  the  beautiful  coat 


CHAPTER    XV 


THE   ANTELOPES 

BY  F.  C.  SELOUS 

THE  TRUE  ANTELOPES  (including  the  Gazelles)  are 
strictly  confined  to  the  Old  World,  the  Prongbuck 
of  North  America  differing  so  much  from  all  other 
living  ruminants,  in  its  horn  growth  and  other  particulars, 
that  it  is  considered  to  be  the  sole  representative  of  a  distinct 
family. 

THE  HARTEBEESTS 

With  the  exception  of  one  species  — the  Bubal  —  which  is 
found  both  in  North  Africa  and  Arabia,  the  HARTEBEESTS  are 
entirely  confined  to  the  African  Continent.  They  are  animals 
of  large  size,  standing  from  43  to  48  inches  at  the  shoulder, 
and  are  characterised  by  their  long,  narrow  faces,  high  withers, 
and  doubly  curved  horns,  which  are  present  in  both  sexes. 
Nine  different  species  of  this  group  are  known  to  exist. 

Although  the  ranges  of  these  various  species  of  harte- 
beest  cover  the  greater  part  of  the  African  Continent,  it  is 
noteworthy  that  each  species  keeps  to  its  own  ground,  their 
several  ranges  but  rarely  overlapping. 

All  the  hartebeests  have  a  strong  family  resemblance, 
and  are  very  similar  in  their  habits.  They  are  never  found 
either  in  dense  forests  or  in  swampy  or  mountainous  country, 
but  are  inhabitants  of  the  arid  deserts  of  Northern  and 
South-western  Africa,  and  of  the  open  grassy  plains  and 
thinly  forested  regions  of  the  high  plateaux  of  the  interior 
of  that  continent.  They  are  extraordinarily  fleet  and  enduring, 
and  in  my  own  experience  I  have  never  heard  of  one  of 
these  animals,  of  whatever  species,  having  been  overtaken  or 
ridden  to  a  standstill  by  a  man  on  horseback.  They  are  very  inquisitive,  and  where  they 
have  not  been  molested  will  allow  any  unaccustomed  object  — such  as  a  European  in  clothes - 
to  walk  to  within  easy  shot  of  them  before  running  off.  They  soon  gain  experience,  however; 
and  in  countries  where  they  have  been  most  persecuted  hartebeests  are  the  keenest-sighted 
and  the  most  wary  of  all  African  game.  They  are  very  fond  of  climbing  to  the  top  of  the 
large  ant-heaps  with  which  the  plains  of  Africa  are  profusely  studded,  and  from  this  point  of 
vantage  surveying  the  surrounding  country.  They  live,  I  believe,  entirely  upon  grass,  and 
in  the  desert  areas  of  their  range  seem  able  to  subsist  for  long  periods  without  drinking 
water.  Their  meat  I  have  always  thought  very  palatable.  They  are  generally  in  fairly  good 
condition,  though  they  seldom  carry  much  fat.  Their  fat,  after  being  melted,  becomes  solid 
again  immediately  on  cooling,  and  clogs  on  the  teeth  whilst  being  eaten.  But  very  few  African 
species,  except  the  eland,  ever  become  really  fat;  their  life  is  too  active,  and  the  food-supply 
too  uncertain,  for  them  to  put  on  flesh  like  European  deer. 

239 


Photo  by  Mill  E.  J.  Btck 

BUBALINE  HARTEBEEST 

A  small  species,  found  in  Syria  as  -well  as  in 
North  Africa 


240      THE    LIVING    ANIMALS    OF    THE    WORLD 


'**,  V" '  • 

gf^'T 


Philt  by  Ptrcy  Ashtndtn] 


\_Cafi  Town 


BLESBOK 


A  species  formerly  -very  numerous  in   South  Africa,  but  no-w  ivell-nigh 
exterminated 


BONTEBOK  AND    BLESBOK   GROUP 

Nearly  allied  to  the  hartebeests  are 
certain  other  antelopes  of  which  it  will  be 
sufficient  to  mention  but  two  species  —  viz. 
the  BONTEBOK  and  the  BLESBOK.  These 
two  antelopes,  though  doubtless  distinct, 
since  their  points  of  difference  are  constant 
arid  unvarying,  are  nevertheless  so  much 
alike,  and  evidently  so  closely  allied,  that  I 
look  upon  the  former  as  a  highly  coloured 
and  specialised  race  of  the  latter.  The  bles- 
bok  once  had  a  far  wider  range  than  the 
bontebok,  and  ran  in  countless  herds  on 
the  plains  of  the  northern  districts  of  the 
Cape  Colony,  the  Orange  River  Colony,  the 
Transvaal,  Griqualand  West,  and  British 
Bechuanaland,  whilst  the  latter  animal  has 
always  been  confined  to  the  sandy  wastes 
in  the  neighbourhood  of  Cape  Agulhas,  the 
extreme  southern  point  of  Africa. 

I  think  it,  however,  not  improbable 
that  ages  ago  the  blesbok  ranged  right 
through  Cape  Colony  to  the  sea-shore,  and 
that  subsequently  the  gradual  desiccation 

of  the  south-western  portions  of  the  country  —  which  is  still  continuing — or  several  years  of 

continuous  drought,  caused  the  withdrawal  of  the  species  northwards  from  the  waterless  parts 

of  the  country.    Those,  however,  which  had  reached  the  neighbourhood  of  Cape  Agulhas,  where 

there  is  plenty  of  water,  would  have  remained  behind  and  formed  an  isolated  race,  which,  being 

influenced  by  local  conditions,  would  naturally  in  course  of  time  have  become  differentiated 

from  the  parent  stock.     Be  this  as  it  may,  the  bontebok  of  to-day  is  nothing  but  a  glorified 

blesbok,  being  slightly  larger  and 

more    richly  coloured    than   the 

latter  animal.     Its  horns,  too,  are 

always  black,  whilst  those  of  the 

blesbok  are  of  a  greenish  hue. 

When  they  are  in  good  condition, 

the  coats  of  both  these  species 

of  antelope,   as  well    as    of  the 

SASSABY,  another  member  of  this 

group,  show    a   beautiful   satiny 

sheen,    which    plays    over    their 

purple-brown  hides  like  shadows 

on  sunlit  water. 

The  few  bonteboks which  still 

survive  are  now  all  preserved  on 

large  enclosed  farms;    but  their 

numbers    are    very    small  —  less 

than    300,    it    is    believed.     The 

farmers  of  Dutch  descent  now  do 

their  best  to  preserve  rare  species  WHITE-TAILED   GNU  AND   CALF 

On  their  land.  Thii  «  j^udebeest  "  is  believed  to  be  practically  exterminated  as  a  -wild  animal 


THE    ANTELOPES 


241 


This  gnu,  -which  is  ftill  found  in  great  numbers  in  East  Central  Africa,  indulges  in  the  same  curious  antics  as  the  white-tailed  species 

THE  GNUS 

These  remarkable  animals  were  once  distributed  throughout  the  greater  part  of  Africa  from 
the  Cape  to  Abyssinia,  and  their  range  is  even  now  very  extensive,  though  what  was  once  the 
most  numerous  and  the  most  eccentric-looking  species  of  the  group  has  almost  ceased  to  exist. 

The  gnus  are  of  large  size,  and  at  first  sight  appear  to  have  the  head  of  a  buffalo,  the 
tail  of  a  horse,  and  the  limbs  and  hoofs  of  an  antelope.  Their  heads  are  very  massive,  with 
broad  muzzles  and  widely  separated,  hairy  nostrils ;  their  necks  are  maned,  tails  long  and 
bushy,  and  both  sexes  carry  horns.  They  are  known  as  "  wilde  beeste,"  or  "  wild  cattle,"  to 
the  Dutch  colonists  of  South  Africa. 

The  WHITE-TAILED  GNU,  or  BLACK 
WILDEBEEST,  as  it  is  more  commonly  called, 
was  once  found  in  great  numbers  on  the  kar- 
roos of  Northern  Cape  Colony,  and  through- 
out the  vast  plains  of  the  Orange  River 
Colony,  Transvaal,  Griqualand  West,  and 
British  Bechuanaland.  Its  range,  in  fact, 
was  coequal  with  that  of  the  blesbok.  Even 
as  lately  as  in  1875  and  1876  I  personally 
saw  very  considerable  herds  of  these  quaint 
animals  in  the  Orange  River  Colony  and  the 
Western  Transvaal.  When  the  present  war 


broke  out  in  1899,  there  were  only  two 
herds  of  black  wildebeest  left  alive.  These 
animals  numbered  some  500  head  altogether, 
and  were  protected  by  Dutch  farmers.  There 


Phttt  b}  Min  E.  J.  B"* 

RED-FLANKED    DUIKER 

The  duikers  are  for  the  most  part  diminuti-ve  and  graceful  antelopes,  with 
simple,  spike-like  horns 


242 


THE    LIVING    ANIMALS    OF    THE    WORLD 


are  probably  very  few  of  them  left  to-day,  and  it  is  scarcely  possible  that  this  most  interesting 
animal  will  long  escape  complete  extinction. 

Black  wildebeests,  before  they  had  been  much  persecuted,  were  so  inquisitive  that,  in  the 
words  of  Gordon  Gumming,  they  would  "  caper  and  gambol "  round  a  hunter's  waggon  or  any 
other  unusual  object,  and  sometimes  approach  to  within  a  couple  of  hundred  yards,  when, 
whisking  their  long  white  tails,  they  would  gallop  off  with  loud  snorts.  They  were  always, 
however,  very  keen-sighted,  and  soon  became  extremely  wary  and  almost  impossible  to  approach 
on  foot  in  the  open  plains  'they  frequented,  whilst  their  powers  of  endurance  and  fleetness  of 
foot  were  such  that  they  could  only  be  overtaken  by  a  well-mounted  hunter.  In  spite  of 
these  advantages,  however,  the  value  of  their  skins,  and  the  ever-increasing  number  of  hunters, 
armed  with  long-range  rifles,  practically  brought  about  the  extermination  of  this  species  of  gnu 
in  a  few  decades. 

The  BRINDLED  GNU  is  a  larger  animal  than  the  last-named  species,  standing  4|-  feet  and 
upwards  at  the  shoulder.  This  animal  once  ranged  from  the  Vaal  River  northwards,  throughout 
Eastern  and  Central  Africa,  to  the  north  of  Kilimanjaro,  where  its  range  overlaps  that  of 
a  closely  allied  form,  the  WHITE-BEARDED  GNU,  which  is  only  found  in  certain  districts  of 
Eastern  Africa.  In  general  habits  these  two  varieties  seem  to  be  identical. 

In  the  interior  of  Southern  Africa,  both  north 

r  -^       and  south  of  the  Zambesi,  I  have  met  with  very 

large  numbers  of  BLUE  WILDEBEESTS.  They  usually 
run  in  herds  of  from  ten  to  twenty  individuals,  but 
towards  the  end  of  the  dry  season  collect  in  droves  of 
200  or  300.  They  are  often  found  in  company  with 
zebras  and  sassaby  antelopes.  Their  flesh  resembles 
coarse  beef,  and,  to  my  thinking,  is  not  ill-flavoured. 

THE  SMALLER  BUCKS 

In  addition  to  the  great  number  of  antelopes 
of  large  size  which  inhabit  the  African  Continent, 
there  are  also  very  many  small  species,  the  life 
history  and  habits  of  some  of  which  are  as  yet 
but  imperfectly  known,  since  they  are  denizens  of 
dense  forests,  and  feed  principally  at  night. 

All  these  small  African  antelopes  are  divided  into 
two  sub-families.  The  first  comprises  the  African 
DUIKERS  and  the  Indian  FOUR-HORNED  ANTELOPE, 
and  the  second  the  DIK-DIKS,  ORIBIS,  KLIPSPRINGER, 
and  certain  other  small  bush-antelopes. 

The  African  duikers  are  distributed  throughout 
Africa  south  of  the  Sahara,  and  are  represented 
by  some  twenty  different  species,  the  largest  of 
which  approaches  a  small  donkey  in  size,  whilst  the 
smallest  is  not  much  larger  than  a  hare. 

The  majority  of  these  dainty  little  antelopes 
are  inhabitants  of  the  dense  tangled  forests  of  the 
coast-belts  of  Africa,  and  are  therefore  but  seldom 
seen  by  travellers  and  sportsmen.  One  species  of 
the  group  however,  the  COMMON  DUIKER  of  South 
Africa,  is  a  very  well-known  animal.  This  little 
antelope  inhabits  much  more  open  country  than 
most  of  its  congeners,  and  has  an  enormous  range, 
extending  from  Cape  Agulhas  to  Somaliland,  whilst 


fnttt  by  Miss  E.  J.  Beck 


KLIPSPRINGER 

The  «  cliff-jumper  "  Is  as  active  in  its  habits  as  a  chamois, 
and  is  found  in  most  of  the  mountain-ranges  of  Africa 


*  .  -    :•  •     * 


SING-SING    WATERBUCK 

243 


c.  J*  WM».  ar 


244         THE    LIVING    ANIMALS    OF    THE    WORLD 


fhttt  by  W.  P.  Dando] 

MOUNTAIN    REEDBUCK 

One  of  a  group  of  small  antelopes  still  common  in  many  parts  of  Africa 


two  very  nearly  allied  forms  are  found 
in  Senegal  and  Abyssinia  respectively. 

In  most  species  of  duikers  both 
sexes  are  horned,  but  in  the  case  of 
the  common  duiker  it  is  very  excep- 
tional to  find  a  female  with  horns, 
and  in  all  my  experience  I  have  only 
known  of  three  such  cases. 

The  FOUR-HORNED  ANTELOPE  is 
the  Indian  representative  of  the  African 
duikers,  and  is  found  along  the  foot 
of  the  Himalaya  from  the  Punjab  to 
Nepal,  and  in  suitable  localities  through- 
out the  peninsula  of  India.  It  frequents 
wooded  hills,  but  avoids  dense  jungle. 
Like  its  nearest  allies,  the  duikers,  it 
is  solitary  in  its  habits,  more  than 
two  of  these  antelopes  seldom  being 
seen  together.  The  growth  of  four 
horns  on  the  skull  of  this  antelope  and 
on  certain  breeds  of  domesticated  sheep  is  a  curious  fact  which  has  not  roused  as  much  comment 

as  it  deserves. 

THE  KLIPSPRINGER 

Turning  to  the  second  sub-family,  we  may  select  the  KLIPSPRINGER  as  the  most  characteristic 
species  to  describe.  This  beautiful  little  animal,  which  is  often  called  the  African  Chamois,  is 
found  in  suitable  localities  from  the  Cape  to  Abyssinia.  In  the  southern  and  northern  portions 
of  its  range  the  klipspringer  is  an  inhabitant  only  of  rugged  mountain-ranges,  and  ascends 
to  a  height  of  9,000  or  10,000  feet  above  sea-level.  In  the  more  central  regions  of  its 
habitat,  however,  although  it  always  lives  amongst  rocks,  and  thoroughly  justifies  its  name 
of  "  rock-jumper,"  it  is  often  found  in  regions  where  there  are  no  high  mountain-ranges.  It 
used  to  be  very  common  in  Matabililand,  both  in  the  Matopo  Hills  and  on  the  isolated 
granite  kopjes  which  are  so  numerous 
in  that  country,  and  usually  are 
not  more  than  200  or  300  feet  in 
height.  In  Mashonaland  I  have 
found  it  living  amongst  granite  rocks 
in  the  beds  of  the  larger  rivers,  and 
actually  on  the  same  level  as  the 
surrounding  country;  whereas  on 
Wedza,  a  great  mountain-mass  of 
slate  and  ironstone,  which  rises  to 
a  height  of  about  2,000  feet  above 
the  surrounding  country,  and  to  the 
top  of  which  I  once  climbed,  I  did 
not  see  any  klipspringers.  The  hoofs 
of  this  little  animal  are  curiously 
different  from  those  of  any  other 
African  antelope,  being  remarkably 
short  and  small,  with  very  deep 

,       ,,  „,,    .  Photo  by  S.  G.  Patni,  Ayltsbury,  by  firmission  of  thi  Han.  Walter  Rothschild 

hollows.      This  adaptation  to  its  re- 

quirements  enables  the  klipspringer  MALE  IMPALA>   OR   PALLA 

to    obtain    a    foothold    On    any    Small  The  beautifully  curbed  born,  of  the  male  palla  form  i0m,  of  the  moSt  graceful  of 

•  iropbtcs 


THE    ANTELOPES 


projecting  piece  of  rock,  and  to  climb  in  a  series  of  little  jumps  up  the  faces  of  cliffs  which 
seem  almost  perpendicular. 

In  height  the  klipspringer  stands  about  i  foot  9  inches  at  the  shoulder.  The  males  alone 
carry  horns,  which  are  straight  and  ringed  at  the  base,  and  vary  from  3  to  5  inches  in 
length.  The  coat  is  of  a  greeny  yellow-brown  colour,  with  the  hairs  hollow  and  brittle.  These 
little  animals  are  usually  met  with  singly,  or  in  twos  and  threes  together.  When  caught 
young,  they  become  wonderfully  tame,  and  make  the  most  charming  pets,  being  very  playful 
and  fond  of  jumping,  with  surprising  ease  and  grace,  from  the  floor  of  a  room  on  to  any 
elevated  position,  such  as  a  table,  mantelpiece,  or  window-sill. 

THE  WATERBUCKS 

The  largest  animals  in  the  first  of  three  groups  now  to  be  considered  are  the  WATERBUCKS, 
antelopes  of  stout  and  sturdy  build,  standing  from  45  to  50  inches  at  the  shoulder,  and  covered 
with  long,  coarse  hair,  especially  on  the  neck,  in  both  sexes.     The  males  alone  carry  horns, 
which  vary  from  20  to  36  inches  in  length,  and  are  strongly  ringed  in  front  for  three-fourths 
of  their  length.     They  are  sublyrate  in  shape,  being  first  inclined  backwards  and  then  forwards 
at  the  tips.     There  are  three  well-marked  species  of  waterbuck  —  viz.  the  COMMON  WATERBUCK 
of  South  Africa,  whose  range 
extends  from  the    Limpopo 
northwards,  through  Nyasa- 
land  to  German  and  British 
East  Africa,  and  to  the 
Shebeyli    River,   in    Somali- 
land;  the  SlNG-SING  of  Sene- 
gal  and    Gambia;    and    the 
DEFASSA    WATERBUCK    of 
Western  Abyssinia  and  the 
Nile  Valley,  south  to  Uganda 
and  British  and  German  East 
Africa.     In  habits  all  species 
of  waterbuck  are  very  similar. 
They  live  generally,  though 
not  invariably,   in   herds   of 
from  ten  to  twenty  individ- 
uals, and  in  such  small  herds  .  , . 
there  is  seldom  more  than  one  full-grown  male  present.     In  the  mtenor  of  South  Africa  tt 
waterbuck  is  often  met  with  amongst  steep  stony  hills  and  at  a  distance  of  more  than 

'   z : 


Photo  by 


G.  Paym,  Aylubury,  by  ftrmiitun  tf  tht  Hen.  Waltir  Ruhichild 

MALE   SAIGA    ANTELOPES 
These  antelope*  inhabit  the  East  Russian  steppes.      The  thick  -woolly  coat  turns  nearly  wUu  in 


in  good  condition  the  fat  is  very  hard.  waterbucks,    but    are    of 

The   REEDBUCKS    are    similar    in   essential  beneath 

smaller  size,  and  have  more  bushy  tails,  and  naked  spots  on  the 

the  ears.  AfnVa  U  the  best  known.     This  animal 

Of  this    group  the  COMMON   REEDBUCK  >  ^      ^  fluffy  ^  which 

stands  3  feet  at  the  withers,  and  is  of  a  soft  greyis  '  under-surface      The  males  alone 

is  always  thrown  up  when  the  animal  runs,  exposi  .  Q  l6 

carry  horns,  which  curve  backwards  and  then  forward.  .am  ajeni [  ^ 

inches.     Reedbucks  are  met  with  singly  or  in  twos  and 


246       THE    LIVING    ANIMALS    OF    THE    WORLD 


though  I  have  seen  as  many  as  eight,  belonging  probably  to  three  or  four  families,  feeding  in 
close  proximity  to  one  another  on  young  green  grass. 

Another  member  of  the  reedbuck  group  is  the  Rooi  R.HEBUCK  of  South  Africa.  This 
latter  species,  though  a  much  smaller  animal,  is  very  similar  to  the  common  reedbuck  in 
colour,  shape,  and  general  appearance ;  it  is  quite  distinct  in  its  habits  and  mode  of  life,  as  it 
lives  in  small  herds  of  from  four  or  five  to  fifteen  head,  amongst  rugged  stony  hills,  often  far 
from  water. 

THE  BLACKBUCK  OF  INDIA 

This  handsome  species  is  found  throughout  India  wherever  there  are  open  cultivated 
plains.  The  male  stands  about  32  inches  at  the  shoulder,  and  when  full  grown  is  of  a 
glossy  black  colour,  with  the  exception  of  a  chestnut-coloured  patch  at  the  back  of  the  neck, 
and  some  markings  of  the  same  colour  about  the  face.  The  belly  and  insides  of  the  limbs 
are  pure  white,  the  line  between  the  black  and  white  being  very  clearly  defined.  The  whole 
body  and  frame  are  very  compact,  strong,  and  beautifully  proportioned,  and  the  head  is  carried 


high.  The  males  alone 
in  shape,  annulated  almost  to 
from  1 8  to  28  inches.  Young 
coloured  instead  of  black, 
met  with  in  considerable 
cultivated  tracts  alternate  with 
much  damage  to  the  natives' 
first  execute  a  series  of  pro- 
before  finally  settling  down  to 
prisingly  fleet,  and  can  seldom 
greyhounds,  although  they 
down  without  difficulty  by 
are  often  called,  hunting- 
The  PALL  A,  which  is 
Eastern  Africa  fromBechuana- 
the  most  graceful  of  animals, 
and  is  never  found  far  from 
general  bright  reddish  brown, 
alone  carry  horns,  which  are 
vary  from  14  to  upwards  of 
finest  specimens  of  the  palla 
southerly  and  most  northerly 
animals  inhabiting  the  inter- 
and  carrying  shorter  horns, 
in  herds  of  from  twenty  to 
alarmed,  they  bound  over 


Photo  by  Miss  E.  J.  Beet 

ARABIAN    GAZELLE 

Gazelles  are  some  of  the  most  slenderly 
built  of  all  antelopes 


carry  horns,  which  are  spiral 
the  tips,  and  vary  in  length 
bucks  and  does  are  fawn- 
These  antelopes  are  usually 
herds  on  open  plains  in  which 
waste  land,  and  they  often  do 
crops.  When  alarmed,  they 
digious  bounds  into  the  air 
a  steady  run.  They  are  sur- 
be  overtaken  by  the  fastest 
can  be  caught  and  pulled 
trained  cheetas,  or,  as  they 
leopards. 

found  in  Southern  and 
land  to  Kordofan,  is  one  of 
It  is  a  forest-loving  species, 
water.  Both  sexes  are  of  a 
with  white  bellies.  The  males 
very  graceful  in  shape,  and 
20  inches  in  length.  The 
are  met  with  in  the  extreme 
portions  of  its  range,  the 
mediate  districts  being  smaller 
Pallas  are  gregarious,  living 
over  one  hundred.  When 
bushes  or  any  other  obstacles 


with  the  utmost  ease  and  grace,  and  appear  to  get  over  the  ground  at  a  high  rate  of  speed. 
They  are,  however,  very  commonly  run  down  and  torn  to  pieces  by  wild  dogs,  which  hunt  in 
packs,  and  are  very  destructive  to  African  game. 

Of  far  less  graceful  appearance  than  the  two  preceding  species  is  the  SAIGA,  which, 
though  structurally  closely  allied  to  the  gazelles,  has  been  placed  by  naturalists  in  a  genus 
by  itself. 

This  curious-looking  animal,  which  is  chiefly  remarkable  for  its  large  swollen-looking  nose 
and  light-coloured  horns,  is  an  inhabitant  of  the  steppes  of  the  South-eastern  Europe  and 
Western  Asia.  In  height  it  stands  about  30  inches  at  the  withers,  and  is  of  a  dull  yellowish 
colour  in  summer,  turning  to  nearly  white  in  winter.  The  males  alone  carry  horns,  which  are 
sometimes  13  or  14  inches  long,  and  of  a  peculiar  colour  which  has  been  likened  to  pale  amber, 


THE    ANTELOPES 


247 


At  the  present  day  the  saiga  is  only  found  in  Europe  on  the  plains  between  the  Don 
and  the  Volga,  but  to  the  east  of  the  Ural  River  its  range  extends  over  the  Kirghiz  Steppes 
and  the  high  plains  of  all  Western  Siberia.  Living  in  open  country,  and  having  the  senses  of 
hearing,  sight,  and  scent  all  highly  developed,  the  saiga  is  a  difficult  animal  to  approach,  and 
can  only  be  successfully  stalked  by  an  expert  hunter.  In  summer  it  is  usually  met  with  in 
small,  scattered  bands,  which,  when  driven  southwards  by  snow  and  cold,  are  collected  into 
considerable  herds  in  the  more  southerly  portions  of  its  range.  In  very  severe  winters  whole 
herds  have  been  known  to  perish  in  snow-drifts,  and  in  such  inclement  seasons  large  numbers 
are  also  killed  by  the  natives.  The  flesh  of  the  saiga  is  said  to  resemble  mutton,  and  is  held 
in  much  esteem. 

THE  GAZELLES 

We  now  come  to  the  Gazelles,  among  which  are  comprised  many  of  the  best  known 
and  most  beautiful  of  the  small  or  medium-sized  antelopes.  In  the  true  gazelles  both  sexes 
generally  carry  horns.  Indeed,  this  rule  is  universal  in  those  of  Africa  and  Arabia ;  and  there 


By  firmissim  of  Htrr  Carl  Hag 


[Hamburg 


GOITRED    GAZELLES    FROM    MESOPOTAMIA 


7*««  animal*  art  inhabitants  of  rocky  and  dcxrt  ground.      They  arc  often  kept  tame  hy  the  -wandering  Arab* 

are  only  four  species  known  —  all  Asiatic  —  in  which  the  females  are  hornless :  wr.  the  TIBETAN 
GAZELLE,  PREJEVALSKI'S  GAZELLE,  the  MONGOLIAN  GAZELLE,  and  the  PERSIAN  GAM 

The  range  of  the  various  species  belonging  to  this  large  group  is  very  extensive,  compr, 
the  whole  of  Northern  and  Eastern  Africa,  Arabia,  and  Western  and  Central  Asia,  as 
Mongolia  and  India.     The  gazelles  are  inhabitants  of  the  open  plains  and  arid  de 
of  the  Old  World,  and,   although  sometimes  met  with  in  tracts  of  country  whcr 
certain  amount  of  scattered  bush  or  open  stunted  forest,  are  never  found  in  any  1 

"  '"on  thTldy  plains  of  North-western  Africa  are  found  the  RED-FRONTED  GAZELLE  of 
Senegal  and  Gambia;    the  little-known  MHORR  GAZELLE  of  South-western  Mo  o 
DAM!  GAZELLE,  a  species  which  has  been  known  to  naturalists  ever  smcc  bo. 

A  near  ally  of  the  last-named  animal  is  the  RED-NECKED  GAZELLE  «*£^*£££ul 
North-ea/ern  Africa  are  found  the  large  and  handsome  So™^g^^^^ 
GAZELLE,  of  the  coastlands  of  the  Red  Sea;  ™^<%£££  of  the'nterior  of  the  same 
maritime  plains  of  Northern  Somahland ;  and  t£  large  and  beautiful  GRANT'S 

country;    whilst  farther  south  the  group  is  represented 


248 


THE    LIVING    ANIMALS    OF    THE    WORLD 


Photo  by  L.  Midland,  F.Z.S.] 


[North  Finchlty 


SPEKE'S    GAZELLE 

Found  in  the  interior  of  Northern  Somaliland 


GAZELLE,  with  its  allies  PETERS'S 
GAZELLE  and  THOMSON'S  GAZELLE. 
The  well-known  DORCAS  GAZELLE  is 
an  inhabitant  of  Morocco  and  Algeria, 
ranging  through  Egypt  into  Palestine 
and  Syria ;  the  MARICA  GAZELLE,  the 
MUSCAT  GAZELLE,  and  the  ARABIAN 
GAZELLE  inhabit  the  deserts  of  Arabia ; 
the  EDMI  GAZELLE  is  found  in  the 
mountain-ranges  of  Morocco,  Algeria, 
and  Tunis ;  while  LODER'S  GAZELLE 
inhabits  the  sandy  tracts  of  the  interior 
of  Algeria  and  Tunis.  In  Asia,  besides 
the  four  species  of  gazelle  already 
enumerated  in  which  the  females  are 
hornless,  one  other  member  of  the 
group  is  met  with.  This  is  the  INDIAN 
GAZELLE,  a  species  very  closely  allied 
to  the  Arabian  form. 

Of  the  whole  genus  GRANT'S  GAZELLE  is  the  most  beautiful.  This  handsome  animal,  which 
was  first  discovered  by  the  explorers  Speke  and  Grant  in  1860,  is  an  inhabitant  of  Eastern 
Africa,  from  the  neighbourhood  of  Lake  Rudolph  southwards  to  Ugogo.  In  size  the  average 
height  at  the  shoulder  of  males  of  this  species  is  about  34  inches.  The  coat  is  close  and 
short  and  of  a  general  fawn  colour,  the  rump  and  belly  pure  white,  and  the  face  marked  with 
a  rufous  band  from  the  horns  to  the  nose  and  with  streaks  of  white  on  each  side.  The  upper 
surface  of  the  tail  is  white,  with  a  black  and  tufted  tip.  The  horns,  which  are  very  elegant 
in  shape,  being  first  curved  slightly  forwards  and  then  backwards,  are  much  longer  and  more 
powerful  than  in  any  other  gazelle,  and  attain  a  length  of  30  inches  in  the  males  and  17  inches 
in  the  females. 

Grant's   gazelles,    though    they   undoubtedly   find    their   most   congenial   home    in   open 
country,   have   also   been   met  with   by  recent  travellers   in  bush-sprinkled  wastes   and   stony, 
rugged  hills.     They  are,  however,  never  found  in  dense  jungles  or  high  mountains.     They  live 
in  herds  of  from  half  a  dozen  to  twenty  or  thirty  individuals,  though  in  certain  localities  as 
many  as  200  have  been   seen  together.     They 
are  fond  of  consorting  with  other  game,  such  as 
Burchell's  and  Grevy's  zebras,  Coke's  hartebeest, 
and  the  beisa  oryx,  and  are  often  met  with  at 
long  distances  from   the  nearest  water.     They 
are  keen-sighted  and  wary,  and  from  the  open 
character    of    the    country    in    which    they    are 
usually  encountered  are  often  difficult  to  stalk. 
When  in  good  condition,  the  meat  of  this  gazelle 
is  said  to  be  excellent. 

The  nearest  ally  of  the  true  gazelles  is 
undoubtedly  the  SPRINGBUCK  of  South  Africa. 
Owing  to  the  protection  which  it  has  received 
of  late  years,  this  graceful  antelope  is  now  a 
common  animal  in  many  parts  of  South  Africa, 
and  in  the  north-western  portions  of  the  Cape  , , 

Photo  by  If.  P.  Danda] 

Colony  still  sometimes  collects  into  prodigious 

herds,  which  travel  through  the  country  in  dense  GAZELLES   FROM   EGYPT 

masses,  destroying  every  Vestige  Of  graSS  On  the  Seen  in  great  numbers  in  the  Bayuda  Desert 


THE    ANTELOPES 


249 


Photo  by  W.  P.  Dando] 


RED-FRONTED    GAZELLE 

Inhabits  Dongola  and  Scnaar 


line  of  their  advance,  and  causingconsiderable 

anxiety  to   farmers,  whose   flocks   of  sheep 

and  goats  are  sometimes  swept  away  by  the 

migrating  springbucks.     In  former  years  the 

migration    of  these    antelopes    in    countless 

thousands  from  the  deserts  of  Namaqualand 

to  the  countries  farther  south  was  a  common 

occurrence,  an  unerring  instinct  guiding  the 

wandering  herds  to  districts  where  rain  had 

lately  fallen   and  caused  a   new  growth  of 

green  grass.     The  animals  composing  these 

migrating   herds  were  called  by  the  Dutch 

settlers  of  the  Cape  Colony  "  Trekbokken," 

or  "  travelling-bucks." 

Two  other  antelopes,  the  DIBATAG  and 

the    GERENUK,  are  included  in  the  present 

group ;   but  both,  whilst  typically  gazelline 

in  certain  respects,  differ  so  much  in  other 

ways  from  all  members  of  that  group  that 

each  has  been  placed  in  a  separate  genus. 
The    DlBATAG    is    a    very   remarkable- 
looking    antelope,    only    found    in    certain 

districts  of  Central  Somaliland,  where  it  was  first  discovered  by  Mr.  T.  W.  H.  Clarke  in  1890. 

This  species  shows  the  face-markings  of  the  gazelles,  whilst  the  horns,  which  are  only  present 

in  the  males,  much  resemble  in  shape  those  of  a  reedbuck.     They  are  rather  short,  attaining 

a    length    of  only    II    or    12    inches,    and    their   basal   halves   are   strongly   ringed    in    front. 

The    neck    of  this  antelope  is   singularly  long  and   thin,  and   the  tail,  which  is   held  curved 

forwards  over  the  back  when  the  animal  is  in  motion,  is  also  much  elongated,  and  only  tufted 

at   the    tip.     The  dibatag   frequents  sandy  ground   sparsely  covered  with    low   thorn-bushes, 

and  lives  in  small  families,  being  usually  met 
with  in  twos  or  threes,  whilst  it  is  rare 
to  find  more  than  four  or  five  consorting 
together. 

The  GERENUK,  like  the  last-named  animal, 
is  an  East  African  species,  but  has  a  more 
extended  range,  being  found  all  over  Somali- 
land,  and  thence  southwards  to  the  Tana 
Valley  and  the  Kilimanjaro  district  of  British 
East  Africa.  The  most  remarkable  external 
characteristic  of  this  species  is  the  exces- 
sively long  neck.  The  males  alone  carry 
horns,  which  attain  an  average  length  of 
12  or  13  inches,  and,  though  somewhat 
gazelle-like  in  shape,  are  more  strongly 
crooked  forwards  at  the  points.  The  skull 
of  this  species  is  more  dense  and  solid  in 
structure  than  in  the  true  gazelles,  and  the 
cheek-teeth  are  smaller  in  size. 

Coming  now  to  the  Sable  Antelope 
group,  we  find  an  assemblage  of  antelopes 
which  are  all  of  large  size  and  handsome 
appearance,  and  in  all  of  which  both  the 


Photo  by  IF.  P.  Dando'] 

RED-FRONTED    GAZELLE 

Another  -v't-w  of  the  specimen  shown  abo-va 
32 


[Rtgtnt's  Par 


Phvto  Ay  Percy  Jtshtndtn] 


[Caft  Town 


MALE    SPRINGBUCK 


Once  the  most  numerous  species  in  South  Africa,  'where  it  is  still  not  uncommon.      Its  migrations,  or  (t  treks,"  at  certain  seasons  "were  one 

of  the  sights  of  the  -veldt 

males  and  females  are  horned.  With  the  single  exception  of  the  BEATRIX  ORYX,  which 
inhabits  Arabia,  all  these  antelopes  are  denizens  of  Africa.  One  species  of  the  group,  the 
BLUEBUCK,  which  appears  to  have  been  entirely  confined  to  the  mountainous  districts  of  the 
Cape  Peninsula,  became  extinct  during  the  first  decade  of  the  last  century.  Little  is  known 
as  to  the  life  history  of  this  animal,  but  it  was  undoubtedly  nearly  allied  to  the  larger  and 
more  handsomely  marked  ROAN  ANTELOPE.  This  latter  animal  once  had  a  more  extensive 
range  than  any  other  antelope,  as  it  was  found  in  almost  every  part  of  Africa  south  of 
the  Sahara,  with  the  exception  of  the  Congo  forest  region.  It  has  now  been  exterminated 
in  the  more  southerly  portions  of  the  country,  but  from  the  Limpopo  to  the  Upper  Nile, 
and  thence  to  the  Niger,  it  is  still  to  be  found  wherever  the  surroundings  are  suitable  to  its 
requirements. 

A  large  bull  roan  antelope  will  stand  4  feet  9  inches  at  the  withers.  The  general  colour 
of  the  body  differs  in  individuals,  even  in  the  same  district,  varying  from  a  very  light  shade 
of  brown  to  dark  grey  or  red-roan.  The  front  and  sides  of  the  face  are  jet-black  in  the  adult 
male,  and  dark  reddish  brown  in  the  female,  with  two  long  white  tufts  of  hair  under  the 
eyes.  The  muzzle  and  extremity  of  the  lower  jaw  are  white.  The  hair  on  the  under  side  of 
the  neck  is  long  and  coarse,  and  a  stiff  mane  about  3  inches  in  length  runs  from  behind 
the  cars  to  the  withers.  The  ears  are  very  long,  and  in  the  females  and  young  males 
tufted.  The  horns  are  curved  backwards,  and  in  the  male  are  very  stout  and  strong,  attaining 


THE    ANTELOPES 


251 


a  length    of  from  26  to  34  inches.     In  the  female    the    horns   are  shorter    and  slighter,  and 
not  so  strongly  ringed. 

Roan  antelope  are  usually  met  with  in  small  herds  of  from  six  to  a  dozen  members,  and 
never  congregate  in  large  numbers.  I  do  not  think  I  have  ever  counted  as  many  as  thirty 
together.  I  have  found  them  fairly  common  in  certain  districts,  but  nowhere  very  plentiful. 
They  frequent  open  plains  and  thinly  forested  country,  and  are  never  found  far  away  from  water. 
Bucks  often  become  savage  when  wounded,  and  will  sometimes  charge  viciously  if  approached 
incautiously.  They  can  use  their  horns  with  great  dexterity,  and  play  havoc  with  a  pack  of  dogs. 

The  SABLE  ANTELOPE,  though  considerably  smaller  than  the  roan,  is  yet  a  handsomer 
animal.  In  colour  the  adult  male,  when  in  high  condition,  is  jet-black  all  over  with  the 
exception  of  the  white  face-markings  and  the  snow-white  of  the  belly  and  insides  of  the 
thighs.  The  mane  is  longer  and  more  bushy  than  in  the  roan  antelope,  and  often  hangs  down 
on  either  side  over  the  withers.  The  horns,  too,  are  much  finer,  and,  sweeping  backwards 
in  a  bold  curve,  are  commonly  upwards  of  42  inches  long,  and  have  been  known  to  reach 
50  inches.  The  striking  colour,  large  size,  and  horns  of  this  creature  make  it  one  of  the 
most-prized  trophies  of  the  sportsman.  The  skin,  when  prepared  and  laid  down  as  a  rug 
in  halls  or  dwelling-rooms,  is  far  more  handsome  than  that  of  any  deer.  The  female  of  this 
species  is  usually  of  a  rich 
red-brown  in  colour  instead 
of  black  as  in  the  male. 
South  of  the  Zambesi,  how- 
ever, old  cows  become  almost 
absolutely  black.  North  of 
the  Zambesi  both  male  and 
female  sable  antelopes  are 
dark  red  in  colour  rather 
than  black.  The  horns  in 
the  female  are  slighter  and 
less  curved  than  in  the 
male,  and  are  also  consider- 
ably shorter,  as  a  rule  not 
measuring  over  30  inches  in 
length. 

The  range  of  the  sable 
antelope  extends  from  the 
northern  districts  of  the 
Transvaal  to  German  East 
Africa.  In  the  country  be- 
tween the  Limpopo  and  the 
Central  Zambesi  it  used  to 
be  a  very  common  animal, 
especially  in  the  northern 
districts  of  Mashonaland.  It 
is  partial  to  open  forests 
intersected  by  grassy,  well- 
watered  glades,  and  is  never 
found  on  open  plains  entirely 
devoid  of  bush.  It  is  usually 
met  with  in  herds  of  from 
twelve  to  twenty  individuals, 
but  I  have  often  seen  as 
many  as  fifty,  and  once 


P)ut»  by  S.  G. 


Ajltiburj,  ir  ftrmiuien  »/«*«  «•».  If  alt"  KotfiithiU 

SABLE    ANTELOPE 

A  near  alh  of  the  Roan  Antelope,  from  -which  it  is  broadly  distinguished  by  its  striking  cohra- 
tion  —  black  and  -white 


252          THE    LIVING    ANIMALS    OF   THE    WORLD 


fhoto  by  the  Duchess  of  Btdford] 

ROAN    ANTELOPE 

In  common  with  the  Sable  Antelope  and  the  Oryx  group,  both  sexes  of  this  species  carry 

harm 


counted  between  seventy  and 
eighty  together.  However  large 
a  herd  of  sable  antelopes  may 
be,  it  is  very  exceptional  to  find 
with  it  more  than  one  fully 
adult  male,  from  which  fact  I 
should  judge  that  these  animals 
of  a  very  jealous  and 


are 


pugnacious  disposition.  When 
wounded  and  brought  to  bay  by 
dogs,  a  sable  antelope  defends 
itself  with  the  utmost  fury,  using 
its  long  scimitar-shaped  horns 
with  most  wonderful  quick- 
ness and  dexterity.  If  badly 
wounded  it  will  lie  down,  other- 
wise it  fights  standing.  Keeping 
its  face  to  some  of  its  foes,  with 
a  sideways  twist  of  its  head 
it  will  transfix  and  throw  into 
the  air  any  dog  which  attempts 
to  attack  it  from  behind.  I 
have  seen  a  wounded  sable 
antelope,  when  lying  down, 
drive  one  of  its  horns  clean 
through  a  large  dog  deep  into 
its  own  haunch,  and  I  have 


had  four  valuable  hounds 
killed  and  four  others 
grievously  wounded  by  one 
of  these  animals  in  less  than 
a  minute.  I  once  knew  a  na- 
tive hunter  who  was  stabbed 
through  the  kidneys  and 
killed  byasable  antelope  cow. 
The  nearest  allies  of  the 
sable  and  roan  antelopes  are 
the  various  species  of  the 
genus  Oryx.  In  this  group 
are  included  the  WHITE 
ORYX,  which  inhabits  the  des- 
ert regions  of  the  interior  of 
Northern  Africa  from  Don- 
gola  to  Senegal ;  the  BEATRIX 
ORYX  of  Southern  Arabia; 
the  GEMSBUCK  of  South- 
western Africa;  the  BEISA, 
which  is  found  in  North-east 
Africa  from  Suakim  south- 
wards to  the  river  Tana ;  and 
the  TUFTED  BEISA,  which  is 


Photo  by  Ntrman  B    Smith,  Esq.] 

MALE    OF    GRANT'S    GAZELLE 

This  fine  East  African  species  is  one  of  the  handsomest  of  its  kind 


THE    ANTELOPES 


253 


very  nearly  related  to  the  last-named  species,  whose  place  it  takes  south  of  the  Tana  River  in 
certain  districts  of  British  and  German  East  Africa.  In  general  appearance  there  is  a  strong 
family  resemblance  between  the  different  species  of  oryx.  In  all  of  them  both  sexes  carry 
horns,  which  are  considerably  longer,  though  somewhat  slighter,  in  the  females  than  in  the 
males.  In  the  white  oryx  the  horns  are  curved  backwards ;  but  in  the  other  four  species  they 
are  straight,  or  nearly  so.  In  all  the  faces  are  conspicuously  banded  with  black  and  white, 
and  the  tails  long,  with  large  dark  terminal  brushes.  The  two  most  desert-loving  species,  the 
white  and  the  Beatrix  oryx,  are  paler  in  general  body-colour  than  the  other  three,  and 
the  latter  animal  is  considerably  smaller  than  any  other  member  of  the  group,  standing  not 
more  than  35  inches  at  the  withers.  The  gemsbuck  is  the  largest  and  undoubtedly  the 
handsomest  of  the  group,  standing  4  feet  at  the  shoulders;  the  horns  of  the  females  are 
often  upwards  of  40  inches  long,  and  have  been  known  to  attain  a  length  of  48  inches. 

In  habits  all  species  of  oryx  seem  to  be  very  similar.  They  are  denizens  of  the  arid  sun- 
scorched  plains  of  Africa,  which  are  not  necessarily  devoid  of  all  kind  of  vegetation,  but  are 
often  covered  with  stunted  bush,  and  carry  a  plentiful  crop  of  coarse  grass  after  rain.  Oryx 
usually  run  in  herds  of 
from  four  or  five  to  fifteen 
or  twenty,  though  the 
beisa,  the  most  abundant 
of  the  group,  has  been 
met  with  in  troops 
numbering  400  or  500 
head.  All  the  oryx  are 
shy  and  wary,  and  in  the 
open  country  they  usually 
frequent  are  difficult  to 
approach  on  foot.  If 
pursued  on  horseback, 
they  run  at  a  steady 
gallop,  which  they  can 
maintain  for  long 
distances,  swinging  their 
bushy  black  tails  from 
side  to  side,  and  holding 
their  heads  in  such  a 
way  that  their  long 
straight  horns  are  only 

sloped  slightly  backwards.  Fleet  and  enduring,  however,  as  oryx  undoubtedly  are,  I  am  of 
opinion  that  in  these  respects  the  gemsbuck  of  South  Africa,  at  any  rate,  is  inferior  to  all 
other  large  antelopes  living  in  the  same  country,  with  the  single  exception  of  the  eland.  I 
have  often,  when  mounted  on  a  fast  horse,  galloped  right  up  to  herds  of  gemsbuck,  and  on 
two  occasions  have  run  antelopes  of  this  species  to  an  absolute  standstill.  Oryx  of  all 
species  should  be  approached  with  caution  when  badly  wounded,  as  they  are  liable  to  make 
short  rushes,  and  can  use  their  horns  with  great  effect. 

Nearly  related  to  the  antelopes  of  the  Oryx  group  in  many  essential  characteristics,  yet  at 
once  distinguishable  by  its  spiral  horns  and  broad  reindeer-like  feet,  the  desert-haunting  ADDAX 
has  been  placed  in  a  separate  genus,  of  which  it  is  the  sole  representative. 

This   remarkable    animal  stands  about  38    inches    in  height  at  the   withers,  and  vanes  in 
general  colour  at  different  seasons  of  the  year,  from  brownish  grey  to  a  reddish  hue. 
forehead  is  covered  with  a  thick  growth  of  bushy  black  hair,  beneath  which  there  is  a  patch 
of  white    extending    across    the    nose    to   under  the   eyes.      The  hindquarters,  tad,    an 
are   white.      The  horns  are  spiral,  and  are  present  in  both  sexes. 


GROUP   OF   BEISA   ORYX 

This  most  interesting  photograph,  taken  by  Lord  Delamere,  sho-ws  a  group  of  these  fine  antelopes  on  the 

East  African  plains 


In  the    male  they   attain 


254         THE    LIVING    ANIMALS    OF    THE    WORLD 


Phut  by  S.  G.  Paynt,  Aylubury^  by  ftrmission  of  the  Hon.  If  alter  Rothschild 

WHITE    ORYX 

Found  in  Northern  Africa  from  Dongola  to  Senegal 

those   thirsty   regions.     It   is   killed  in   considerable 
its  flesh  and  hide,  and  is  either  stalked  or  hunted  on 
by  Europeans. 

The  last  of  the  sub-families  into  which  modern 
naturalists  have  divided  the  antelopes  of  the 
world  comprises  some  of  the  handsomest  species 
of  the  whole  group,  and  includes  the  largest  of 
all  antelopes,  the  Eland,  as  well  as  such  small 
and  beautifully  marked  creatures  as  the  Harnessed 
Bushbucks. 

With  one  exception  —  the  Nilgai  —  all  the 
members  of  this  sub-family  are  denizens  of  the 
great  African  Continent. 

The  NILGAI,  or  BLUE  BULL,  is  an  inhabitant 
of  India,  and  is  found  throughout  the  greater 
portion  of  the  peninsula,  from  the  base  of  the 
Himalaya  to  the  south  of  Mysore.  It  is  an  animal 
of  large  size,  standing  about  4  feet  6  inches  at  the 
shoulder.  In  general  colour  the  male  is  of  a  dark 
iron-grey,  the  female  tawny  fawn.  White  spots 
on  the  cheeks  and  just  above  the  hoofs  on  the  fore 
and  hind  feet  are  the  outward  signs  of  its  affinity 
to  the  African  harnessed  antelopes.  The  male 
alone  carries  horns,  which  are  nearly  straight  and 
very  small  for  the  size  of  the  animal,  rarely  exceed- 
ing 9  inches  in  length. 

Passing  now  to  the  Harnessed  Antelopes  of 
Africa,  our  attention  is  first  claimed  by  the  BUSH- 
BUCKS.  Excluding  the  Inyala  and  the  Broad- 


a  length  of  about  28  inches  in 
a  straight  line,  and  about  36 
inches  following  the  spiral.  In 
the  female  they  are  thinner  and 
less  spirally  curved.  The  addax 
is  confined  to  the  desert  regions 
of  Northern  Africa  from  Dongola 
to  Senegal,  and  the  broad,  rounded 
hoofs,  so  unlike  those  of  any 
other  antelope,  would  seem  to 
show  that  it  inhabits  countries 
where  the  soil  is  deep,  soft 
sand. 

Very  little  is  known  of  the 
life  history  or  habits  of  this 
antelope.  It  is  said  to  associate 
in  pairs  or  small  herds,  and  to 
be  entirely  independent  of  water, 
though  it  travels  great  distances 
over  the  desert  in  the  track  of 
thunder-storms  for  the  sake  of 
the  young  herbage  which  grows 
so  quickly  wherever  rain  falls  in 
numbers  by  the  Arabs  for  the  sake  of 
horseback,  with  the  help  of  greyhounds, 


Photo  by  IV.  P.  Dando]  [Rigint' i  Park 

BEISA    ORYX 

The  beisa  is  found  in  North-east  Africa ;  by  some  it  is  believed 
to  have,  suggested  the  original  idea  of  the  unicorn 


THE    ANTELOPES 


255 


horned    Antelope,    we    find 

several  forms  of  the  smaller 

bushbucks     recognised     by 

naturalists:    viz.    the    HAR- 
NESSED  ANTELOPE   of  the 

forest    regions    of    Western 

Africa;  the  CAPE  BuSHBUCK 

of  South  Africa ;  CUMMING'S 

BUSHBUCK  of  Eastern  Africa; 

and  the  DECULA  BUSHBUCK 

of  Abyssinia.     The   various 

forms   of  bushbuck  vary  in 

general  colour  from  verydark 

brown  to  various  shades  of 

grey-brown,      yellow-brown, 

and  rich  red.     In  all  species 

the  young  are  more  or  less 

striped  and  spotted ;  but 
whereas  in  some  forms  the 

adultanimalslose  theirstripes 

and  spots  almost  entirely,  in 

others  the  adults  are  more 
richly  marked  than  immature 
specimens.  Formypartjam 
inclined  to  believe  that,  if 
largeseries  of  bushbuck-skins 
were  collected  from  every 
district  throughout  Africa,  it 
would  be  found  that  all  the 
varieties  of  this  animal  at 
present  accepted  as  distinct 
species  would  be  found  to 
grade  into  one  another  in 
such  a  way  that  only  one  true 
species  could  be  recognised. 

The  bushbucks  vary  in  height  at  the  shoulder  from  28  inches  to  33  inches,  and  only  the 
males  carry  horns,  which  are  nearly  straight,  with  a  close  spiral  twist,  and  measure  in  adult 
animals  from  10  inches  to  18  inches  in  length. 

Bushbucks  are  not  found  in  open  country,  but  live  in  forest  or  thick  bush  near  the 
bank  of  a  river,  stream,  or  lake,  and  are  never  met  with  far  from  water.  They  are  very 
partial  to  wooded  ravines  amongst  broken,  mountainous  country,  provided  such  districts  are  well 
watered;  and  are  very  solitary  in  their  habits,  both  males  and  females  being  usually  found 
alone,  though  the  latter  are  often  accompanied  by  a  kid  or  half-grown  animal.  They  are  shy 
and  retiring,  and  should  be  "looked  for  between  daylight  and  sunrise,  or  late  in  the  evening,  as 
they  are  very  nocturnal  in  their  habits,  and  lie  concealed  in  long  grass  or  thick  bush  during  the 
heat  of  the  day.  Their  call  resembles  the  bark  of  a  dog,  and  may  often  be  heard  at  nights. 

The  BROAD-HORNED  ANTELOPE  is  only  found  in  the  forests  of  the  West  African  coast  range, 
from  Liberia  to  Gaboon.  The  male  of  this  species  is  a  very  handsome  animal,  standing  about 
43  inches  at  the  withers,  and  is  a  bright  chestnut-red  in  general  colour,  with  a  white  spinal 
stripe  extending  from  the  withers  to  the  root  of  the  tail,  and  fourteen  or  fifteen  wh.te  stripes 
on  the  shoulders,  flanks,  and  hindquarters.  The  ears  are  large  and  rounded,  and  the  horns  very 
massive,  and  about  30  inches  in  length,  measured  over  the  single  spiral  twist. 


by  S.  G.  Tayne,  Ajltsbury,  by  firmission  of  I  hi  Han.  Walttr  Rothschild 


GERENUK 

A  gazelle-like  antelope  -with  long  neck  and  legs,  inhabiting  North-east  Africa 


256         THE    LIVING    ANIMALS    OF    THE    WORLD 


Phtti  by  Ytrli  &  Son']  [Noting  Hill 

FEMALE    NILGAI 

The  largest  of  the  antelopes  of  India,  and  a  distant  cousin  of  the  Kudu 

horns,  which  are  only  present  in  the  male, 
attain  a  length  of  about  2  feet  in  a  straight 
line,  and  30  inches  along  their  spiral  curve. 
The  standing  height  at  the  shoulder  of  males 
of  this  species  is  about  42  inches. 

This  most  beautiful  antelope  has  a  very 
restricted  range,  being  only  found  in  a  narrow 
belt  of  coastland  extending  from  St.  Lucia  Bay 
to  the  Sabi  River,  in  South-east  Africa,  and  in 
a  still  smaller  area  in  the  neighbourhood  of  the 
Upper  Shiri  River,  in  British  Central  Africa. 

Before  the  acquisition  of  firearms  by  the 
natives  in  South-east  Africa,  the  inyala  was  very 
plentiful  in  Northern  Zululand  and  Amatonga- 
land,  and  was  then  to  be  met  with  in  herds  of 
from  ten  to  twenty  individuals  ;  whilst  the  males, 
which  at  certain  seasons  of  the  year  separated 
from  the  females,  were  in  the  habit  of  consorting 
together  in  bands  of  from  five  to  eight.  Constant 
persecution  by  the  natives  in  Amatongaland  and 
the  countries  farther  north  very  much  reduced 
the  numbers  of  inyalas  in  those  districts  a  long 
time  ago;  but  in  Zululand,  where  this  animal 
has  been  strictly  protected  by  the  British 
authorities  for  the  last  twenty  years,  it  was  still 
plentiful  up  to  1896,  when  the  rinderpest  swept 
over  the  country,  and  committed  such  sad 


three  large  white  spots  on  the  cheeks,  and  a 
broad  white  arrow-shaped  mark  across  the  nose 
below  the  eyes.  The  female  is  similar  in 
colorationto  the  male,  but  smaller  and  hornless. 

Little  or  nothing  is  known  as  to  the 
habits  of  this  very  beautiful  antelope.  Du 
Chaillu,  who  met  with  it  in  the  interior  of 
Gaboon  between  1856  and  1859,  says  that  it 
is  "  very  shy,  swift  of  foot,  and  exceedingly 
graceful  in  its  motions " ;  but  he  does  not 
tell  us  whether  it  lives  in  pairs  like  the 
bushbucks,  or  in  small  herds  like  some  of  its 
other  near  allies. 

The  IXYALA  is  another  bush-loving  ante- 
lope closely  allied  to  the  bushbucks.  In  this 
species  the  general  colour  of  the  adult  malt 
is  a  deep  dark  grey,  that  of  the  female  and 
young  male  bright  yellow-red,  and  both  sexes 
are  beautifully  striped  with  narrow  white 
bands  on  the  body  and  haunches.  In  the 
male  long  dark  hair  hangs  from  the  throat, 
chest,  and.  each  side  of  the  belly,  and  fringes 
the  front  of  the  thigh  almost  to  the  hock, 
and  the  back  of  it  up  to  the  root  of  the 
tail.  The  ears  are  large  and  rounded  ;  and  the 


[Nutting  Hiil 


ADDAX 


Unfortunately,  the  specimen  from  'which  this  photograph  was  taken 
had  lost  its  splendid  spiral  horns 


